What has it got in its pocketses, eh Precious?

This is the story of how Boyfriend Fiancé and I got engaged!

When I woke up on Friday, November 30th, I had no idea that I would be engaged by that night.  I had taken the day off work because Boyfriend and I had plans to stay at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove.  But before any of that, I had to brave the storm that was hitting the Bay Area and go to the dentist and the bank, and generally boring things you do when you don't think anything special is going on.

That afternoon, when we finally got to Monterey, the storm had settled down, and we spent a few hours walking around the Aquarium.  According to the guides there, we lucked out – the week after Thanksgiving is always slow.  We saw every exhibit, and had a front row spot for the penguin feeding (where the power went out due to the storms)!  And since it was so empty, I later learned that Boyfriend almost proposed at the Aquarium at that window tunnel where the tide falls over you... We had, after all, spent our very first anniversary at the Aquarium and that would have been very fitting.

When we finally checked into our room at Asilomar we were a little shocked.  Back when I booked the room they asked if I wanted a "modern" room or a "rustic" room, and I had assumed "rustic" meant rustic like the inn in Pennsylvania where I stayed for my Cousin's wedding: old but updated, with a fireplace, and a bathtub, and such.  But, no.  This was a cabin that had not been updated since around 1946, with just a bed, a desk, and a bathroom, and with a ceiling so low, I could reach it with my feet when I was laying on bed.  I kept apologizing to Boyfriend for not booking a more romantic room when we first saw it; I apologized even more last after he proposed! 

We decided to go to dinner at once of my favourite restaurants ever: Peppers in Pacific Grove – they have an amazing Mexican jambalaya and blood orange margaritas to die for.  After dinner, Boyfriend suggested that we walk down to Lover's Point, which is only about 3 blocks from Peppers.  We grabbed an umbrella, and as it started to rain we headed down toward the beach.

It was about 9-9:30ish at night, so there wasn't anyone around.  As we walked down the path that leads to the water we spotted a giant black dog on the beach (I think it was a Hellound; my mom later said it was probably Sirius Black) and Boyfriend thought he people below us chatting, so he stopped me halfway up the path.  We could still see across the bay and the lights on the rest of the coast, and it was beautiful.

Then he turned to me and said something like, "Sooo, I have a question..."

Now, don't judge me here, but I still wasn't expecting anything, and it wasn't like he got down on one knee (not really our style).  In hindsight it's all so obvious – even my best friend J convinced me to get a manicure earlier that week – which I almost never do!  But at that moment, I was expecting Boyfriend to say something like "Soooo, if Nic Cage was on a battleship and there was a giant squid attacking, and all he had was his shoes and some floss..." because we always start conversations like that.  But he didn't ask me about Nic Cage or anyone else.

Boyfriend pulled out a ring and I cried and jumped on his face and said "yes, yes, yes!"  And then we had to walk back to the car because though I could see the ring in the moon light, I couldn't really see the ring.  When we got back to the car, he had to drive because I while I was beyond happy, I was also something of an emotional wreck (and too distracted by the ring to drive).

So, it turns out that Boyfriend had been holding the ring in his pocket the whole day, and not even in the box, just in the 5th pocket of his jeans.  Which is hilarious when I thought back to that morning:

As we were leaving, Boyfriend got in the car and his pant's pocket seemed extra bulky.

"Are you bringing your GameBoy on our weekend away," I asked.

"No!  It's my wallet."  And he showed me his wallet.

"Are you sure you don't have anything else in there?  It's really big today."

"Nope, just my wallet," he insisted.

And then I said, "What has it got in its pocketses, eh Precious?" and I start banging on about how Bilbo had The Ring in his pocket the whole time and Gollum had no idea...  And all the while Boyfriend had a ring in his pocket, and I was just as clueless!

I think my love of The Lord of The Rings is pretty well documented, and only I could inadvertently turn my engagement into a reference from The Hobbit.  But hey, that's what makes us so awesome.

Adventures in SoCal

Boyfriend and I journeyed down to SoCal the weekend before his birthday to visit his Grandma and to check out the new Cars Land at Disneyland. 

The trip didn't go 100% as planned.  We were meant to go straight to his Grandma's house, but half way there, we had to change our plans and head to his Uncle's instead.  Then due to an unforeseen freeway problem, our normal 6ish hour drive turned into a 10+ hour drive.  But don't worry, Dear Readers, there is a silver lining here – while we were stuck in traffic it hit 115° outside!  So, if we had to be stuck somewhere better it be in a car with AC!

We were a bit wrecked from the drive, but we made it to Disney the next morning and found out that it was a black out day for SoCal residents and that the park was crazy empty.  In fact, we saw a lot of the same people in line and there were wide open spaces for us to walk, which was especially good since the heat did not let up and it got to 106° while we were there.  Aside from Splash Mountain, the longest line we had to wait in was for Cars Land (and then we FastPassed it the second time).  It was Finn McAwesome and a perfect place to play Yellow Car while waiting in line.

Two things to note from our awesome Cars Land pic above:
1. I didn't realize I was standing so sassy.
2. I'm wearing my Snitchwiches shirt and Boyfriend is wearing his "You're a Timelord Harry" shirt.  Clearly we are at the wrong theme park. 

Desaparacidos

Have you ever loved an album so much, but knew you would never ever get to see any of those songs live?  This can't be that strange of an occurrence, especially if you are a fan of bands that broke up decades ago (like my sister, Bear, the Zeppelin superfan).  But since I tend to like smaller, more accessible bands, and since I live outside of SF, I've always been very lucky in this respect.

Boyfriend's favourite album of all time is In the Areoplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, and by the time he really started to listen to it, they had already broke up. So, when Jeff Mangum (the singer/songwriter) was touring this past spring, he was so excited.  And were blown away – he played 90% of the album live!  A dream come true for Boyfriend, who thought he would never ever hear his favourite songs live.

Tonight, we're going to see Desaparacidos and The Velvet Teen, which will be a giant musical blast from my past.  They're touring for the first time in 10 years, and goddamn and I excited.

Desaparcidos is best known for being fronted by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame.  They formed in 2001, released Read Music/Speak Spanish in 2002, and then disbanded.  And in those 10 years, I have listed to their one album over, and over, and over.  For me, there's just something about it that album that I can't get enough of.

I've seen Bright Eyes live twice, and nearly back to back – once during the I'm Wide Awake it's Morning tour, and once right after for the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn tour.  And based on those performances, I imagined that Desaparacidos would be just as amazing, louder to be sure, but amazing.

And tonight, I finally get to find out.



photo from desaparecidosband.com

I am a nerd, and I don't care.

On July 14th, I attended Pink Prom IV: May the Fourth Be With You.  This is the 4th annual party thrown by my friends to benefit the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and WomenCARE.

As I have the past 3 years, I had a wonderful time and danced the night away. There were amazing Star Wars themed decorations, souvenir pint glasses, and puns everywhere – my favourite: Admiral Snackbar!  Plus, there a photo booth that would be placing us among the stars.

If you didn't think it could get nerdier than a Star Wars themed event, you're wrong.  When I saw this photo of me and Boyfriend, I couldn't help myself... I had to make one small adjustment.

The Twelfth Doctor and his companion, Meggie Stardust!

Photo by Jon Sawyer Photography 
edit by me :)

2011 Recap

Welcome to 2012.

I haven’t updated this since Oct., mostly because I'm very easily distracted by other things, but maybe a little bit because I’m horrible at commitments that rely on only myself.  I suppose I should make some sort of resolution to keep my blog up to date – oh! Wait, I did that last year.  It sort of worked, at least I had a good run for a while.  

I have decided to make more of an effort.  I do miss blogging; it really did help me stay in the habit of writing.  So, to kick that off, here’s what you’ve been missing in my life!

Oct. 

I was going to attempt to do movie reviews while, ahem, altered and successfully did one.  I do have two more to post and will work on getting those edited so they are intelligible. 
 

I had also been training for The Warrior Dash, which took place on Oct 29th.  It was so much fun: a 3 mile fun-run with obstacles, mud, and fire.  I did it in just under 40 mins, which isn’t too much longer than my normal mile-pace (and that included all the obstacles) and I only ended up with some minor cuts and bruises.  I’m already excited for next year’s race. 

Then for Halloween, Boyfriend and I went as Lady Sherlock and Dr. Watson.  Really, it was an excuse to get Boyfriend to grow a mustache, wear a top hat and vest, and essentially dress like Jude Law’s Watson.  Luckily for me he was a good sport about it. AND lucky for the party we went to, Carmen San Diego showed up and tried to steal the Eiffel Tower – through my deductions I was able to prevent this horrible crime to the sounds of Rockapella. 

Nov. 

I had planned on devoting my November to figuring out ways that I could enjoy a satisfying Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  I had plans for pies and stuffing and biscuits and everything.  Needless to say, that did not happen. 

I went up to Oregon in early November to visit my Aunts and my cousins while all the Uncles went on a fishing trip. This involved a lot of card games and chocolate.  Oh, and worrying that there might be a bear wandering around the property.  It was fun.

Because we had a shutdown at work during the week of Thanksgiving, I zoomed down to visit one of my best friends in San Diego.  We watched an insane amount of Doctor Who, drank wine (at one point we went to the grocery store and both bought a jar of salsa and a bottle of wine. Each.), and ate chinese takeaway.  It was absolutely perfect. 

Dec. 

And then suddenly it was December.  Boyfriend and I went to Disneyland with two of our friends – it was a surprise for one of them as a late birthday present.  We did something absolutely crazy like 30 hours in parks over 2 days.  We were completely wrecked at the end of the trip, but it worth it. 

December also happens to be my sister Bear’s birthday and to celebrate, she hosted a Tour d’Franzia.  Let me explain: We had 4 teams of 4, each with a box of Franzia and tricycles, mini bikes, and razor scooters.  It’s a race to the end of the bag so, the first person drinks for 5 seconds then rides around the course (in this case, we were on a cul-du-sac, so we had to basically make a loop from further down the street), once they cross the finish line the next rider drinks and so on.  This lead to everyone being completely gone by about 2pm.  I ended up with a giant contusion on my head from a beer can and a broken toe, complete with bruises all over my body.  The fact that I’m my late twenties means I should know better, I suppose, but it was a blast. 

In contrast, we had a nice low key Christmas and New Years.  I spent the time off work recovering from the aforementioned party.  My foot is still messed up and until this week, I hadn’t been able to get it inside of shoe except an Ugg.  So, yes, I did go to a New Years party in a dress with Uggs on.  

So, yeah.  Those were the highlights of the remainder of 2011.  Here’s to 2012 and the hope that I can motivate myself to stay more on top of my own goals. 

Awesome August : Day 21

Have you ever had one of those dreams that is so realistic and awful that even then you wake up, you feel weird for the rest of the morning?  Especially if that dream involves someone you love and someone you have to interact with.  That was me today... So, to counteract the yucky feeling, I ended up doing things that I love.

The Queen and I went to a morning showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 since she hadn't seen it yet.  The theater was surprisingly packed for a Sunday morning nearly over 2 months after the release.  And since I hadn't seen it since the midnight premier (which was fun but very loud), I was able to pick up lines of dialogue that I missed the first time (since we were all laughing or cheering or crying), like this one:

I've always loved the way the films have portrayed Seamus.  I thought that he was kinda shafted after about book 5 and he was always a fun character.  This scene just proves it.  But I digress...

Then I ended the night by seeing Cowboys & Aliens with Boyfriend and his dad.  I feel like that whole movie is the set up for a joke like, "James Bond and Han Solo walk into a saloon..."  But I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.  I should probably mention that leading up to the film's release, every time I saw the trailer in a theater I looked around to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and that the film really existed.

All in all the movies and the company cured me of my bad dreams. :)

Our first Hawai'i Trip

When I was a computer trainer, I had a student that told me the single hardest part in her 40+ year marriage was that she has travel-lust and her husband didn't.  Now in her late 60's she had finally stopped trying to convince him to want to go places with her and she decided to travel on her own.  As I was helping her plan her trip, she turned to me and said, "If the guy you are with does not have that innate desire to travel, he never will and it can't be learned.  Dump him. Dump him now."

As it happens, one of my favourite things about Boyfriend is that he has that same desire that I have to go places and see new things.  So far, we've been lucky enough to be able to take a lot of mini-trips together and at the end of June, we took our first trip to Hawai'i together. 

And by together and I mean us plus some of his family.  His Uncle arranged for us to have a condo as part of his timeshare, so we spent a week on The Big Island of Hawai'i on the Kona side. 

There was significantly less hanging out on the beach than one might expect for a Hawai'i trip.  For one, I'm really a hang out on the beach kinda gal, and for another, The Big Island does not have the sprawling sandy beaches that one pictures when they think of Hawai'i.  We did, however, see and do a ton of amazing things.

 We hiked the Kīlauea Volcano crater.  We visited Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau - The City of Refuge.  We saw Akaka Falls, Pe'epe'e Falls, and Rainbow Falls.  And we took a snorkel trip to Kealakekua Bay, near the Captain Cook monument.  Oh, and in between all that we had some amazing meals, saw some amazing sunsets, and just relaxed. 


We also learned on this trip that I am very, very bad at saying Hawaiian words – I either leave out whole syllables or I add extra – I think I read too fast to be bothered with pronouncing all the vowels... And amazingly, I hardly got sunburnt at all!  Anyway, I had an amazing time and I can't wait to have other travel adventures with Boyfriend in the future.

Catching up...

One of the reasons that I started this blog was to keep myself in the habit of writing.  And when I'm on top of things, that seems pretty successful.  This isn't to say that the writing is superb or profound in any way, but I'm writing nonetheless, which is something I used to do constantly and I've been missing.  To quote Sugar, I need to write like a motherfucker. 

Now that the weekend is almost upon us, I hope to catch up with some posts.  Boyfriend and I were just on The Big Island of Hawai'i for a week, as you can see in the photo above (or if you're like me, you can't stop staring at the Domo with a mustache on Boyfriend's shirt – and, yes, he wore that to a Lu'ua because he's a badass).  As the official photographer for this blog, I'm waiting for Boyfriend to pass me the good (good meaning his photos, not mine) pics from the trip so I can do a recap.  So, you've got that to look forward to.

I've also been neglecting because of some weird, random health issues.  I had planned to write a pre-travel post before we left, but I spent the last day here really, really sick with a migraine.  Then on Monday, in the airport on the way home, my mouth started swelling up… Tuesday, I had to have an emergency gum procedure.  They think that I had a cut on my gum and then had a reaction to something and it caused an infection. Delightful, yes?  So, now I have stitches and a lot of mouth pain.  I haven't been a happy camper this week.

Oh, and since I'm being honest, I started re-reading The Lord of the Rings and that's taken up quite a bit of time, too. :)

But all that aside, over the next two weeks, I get to see two of my most favourite people in the world, see the last Harry Potter movie in theaters, celebrate a ton of birthdays, and gear up for my own birthday at the end of the month.  There will be tons of fun here, guys! I just have to get on it!

Wizard Rock & Dinosaur Cake

One of my most awesome nerdy loves is Wizard Rock.  Oh, you've never heard of Wizard Rock?  It's cool, let me explain.

A Quick (and probably inaccurate) History of Wizard Rock:
I'm fairly certain that you can call Led Zeppelin the Godfathers of Wizard Rock.  If I have to explain that to you, we are no longer friends for at least 3 reasons... But that was back in the day.

In the early 2000s a band called The Switchblade Kittens wrote a song called "Ode to Harry Potter" which was from Ginny's POV in Chamber of Secrets.

A little while later, in 2002, two brothers somewhat jokingly formed a band called Harry and the Potters and wrote a bunch fast and sloppy songs about the first few Harry Potter books and from Harry's POV.

After that, the world exploded – Wizard Rock caught on BIG TIME and now along with Harry and the Potters and their evil counter-parts, Draco and the Malfoys, you can find tons and tons of other Wizard Rock bands (there was even a Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club for a couple of years and Christmas CDs and everything)!

And now you know.

So, anyway, the champions and reigning kings of Wizard Rock are still Harry and the Potters.  At some point their cute, few-lined, silly songs turned into really good, introspective, interesting, and often hilarious songs.  They're pretty good and are super fun to watch live (Boyfriend said that if they practiced they might be really good, but he also said he wants to join the band and play bass as Cho Chang, so I'm not sure I can take him seriously anymore).  They get so into the songs and into the characters (one brother plays as HP year 4 and the other as HP year 7) and there is tons of bantering and Wizard jokes.

I saw them for the second time this weekend at the Sunnyvale Public Library.  It was hot, outdoors, and there wasn't a huge crowd.  Still, it was a good show in the way that a show is good when a lot equipment gets knocked over and one of the Harry Potters is wearing his sweater backwards for half the set before noticing. 

They played a lot of the songs off their earlier albums which was fun (though "Power of Love" is hands-down their best album). And their drummer apparently keeps changing his identity at each show – at our he was Sirius Black. They also made a Pog joke that kinda fell flat, but I suspect that's because 3 of us in the crowd were old enough to know what Pogs were... And Boyfriend was stoked over their many Back to the Future references, too!

Also, before the show I bought their super awesome, punk rock 12" vinyl record "Live at the New York Public Library" (I collect records, too) and met the band – brothers Paul and Joe.  My dear friend, Kate, has been friends when them for ages, so she insisted that I go introduce myself at the show (she had warned(?) them that I would be saying hi when she saw them a few days earlier in San Diego).  I was wearing my Pterodactyl dress in preparation for the next part of my night and the boys – in a moment of absolute hilarity – tried to invite themselves to the Jurassic Park Party I was going to next, then realized they had another show to play in Santa Cruz.  That, my friends, is the drawing power of the dinosaur.

Which brings me to later that night...

My friend Peter, aka The Mayor, had been putting off his birthday for so long that I decided to swoop in and declare it a Jurassic Park Themed event.  Unfortunately, this didn't really work as Boyfriend and I were the only one who stuck to the dinosaur theme (my dress, his t-shirt)... Oh, and our friend maRk did bring dinosaur toys, so there was that.

But, not realizing that everyone would be total Flounders, I had spend the morning getting dinosaur type goodies ready for Peter: some candy that looked like dinosaur eggs, chocolate rocks, dinosaur toys, and a dinosaur cake, which ended up looking more like Reptar from Rugrats than the actual cake tin (because I frosted it backwards)...  Still, we had a good time at dinner and then went and drove go-karts before eating the dinosaur cake.

All in all, awesome Saturday night.  Did you do anything amazingly awesome, too?

Also, find out more about Harry and the Potter's Ride the Lightening 2011 summer tour here!

Pink Prom 3-D

Did you hear?  My friends, sisters Diana & Megan, threw a totally awesome party for a totally worthy cause: Pink Prom 3-D, A Benefit Dance for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

This is the 3rd year they've put this event on and the second year that I've gone. This year Diana, Megan, and I all had the same hair cuts and we all wore strapless pink dresses.  How awesome?  Maybe it's a side effect of knowing someone since like 4th grade...

Last year, I went with my friends and asked Mr. Orlando Furioso to be my "date" because Boyfriend was visiting family.  Orlando bought me copious amounts of gin & tonics and I spent the drive home reciting everything that I had ever read on Wikipedia about roller coasters.  Seriously.  Roller coasters.

This year, I had Bear, Boyfriend & and a Betsy Johnson dress.  And I didn't drink too much or rant and rave about amusement park rides.  I did however dance the night away and I had a rediculiously awesome time in the photo booth they had set up.

Allow me to take you through the night in pictures – all photos by the fabulous Gary Sexton Photography!

Our Prom group shot: Me & Boyfriend, Peter & Marian, Bear & Mwongola.  Aren't we all pretty in pink – you see what I did there?  

Here's our first "couple" picture.  Note that Boyfriend keeps sticking his head into the frame with the 3-D glasses – I think it looks like R2D2.  This is before drinks and I'm still jumping into him...
We had to make sure to get an awesome sister picture.  In case you're wondering, me and my sister will challenge you and your sister to the K12 any day of the week.  Just say when.
Then we met a couple and started chatting.  Then decided to take pics with them, like you do.  I also, at some point, started talking about how I used to play Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show hence the sign.  And I decided that the bird Boyfriend his hold is the Maltese Falcon (no one knew what I was on about. How sad).

At some point in the night I started channeling Cha-Cha from Grease when, at the dance, she cuts in on Danny & Sandy to win the Hand Jive competition.  What I'm doing in that last picture is shaking my dress, which was fluffed out with tulle, like she does when they win.  This seemed like a good idea.  Also, Boyfriend started doubling up on glasses...

And then Boyfriend gets artsy and my eyes get wonky.  That last frame is so amazing, I know you are wishing you could be so cool. 
I had a total blast at the party and it was for such a good cause.  Trust me, the photos are just a snapshot of the awesomeness.  And you can check out the website and see the rest of the party pics, too.

So, thanks Diana & Megan.  You ladies rock.

Dear Readers, Meet Boyfriend.

Boyfriend and I have a running joke that we are each others Constants (see: LOST) and thusly, due to time travel, we have known each other for over 300 years.  If that's the case, Boyfriend and I re-met in the January of 2008.  We started dating in May 2009.  A lot happened in between.

Boyfriend is really super amazing, but I'm not sure he knows just how amazing he is.  That's one of the ways we balance each other out – I'm constantly telling everyone how amazing I am, and he would never do that.  He's kind of shy around people he doesn't know that well and hilarious and full of life once you get know him.

He plays guitar and he has an amazing voice, and yet, he lets me sing in the band because I asked him if I could.  Also, when we play Rockband he always high-fives me if I do OK on a song, but kisses me if I do really well.

He's a brilliant photographer (again, something he would never say and probably doesn't even believe).  When you look at a picture of yourself that he's taken, you think one of two things: "Goddamn, I didn't know that I could look so good – I should be a model"; otherwise it's, "Well, I'm picking my nose in this one, but damn the composition is spot on."

We can talk about anything.  Seriously.  And I don't just mean that in a sit-around-and-talk-about-your-feelings kind of way (which we do sometimes).  I mean, one time we had a 30 min conversation about sketchy ways to prepare french fries.  We might also have conversations that start out like this: "Who would win in a fight – Treebeard or The Whomping Willow?"
or "You know why ConAir is a good movie...?"
or "Ok, here's my problem with air conditioners..."

One time, I asked him, "You know that guy that was on that show that was on after that other show that was like live action Family Guy?" and he ended up figuring out that I was talking about Yes, Dear and Mike O'Malley.  He knows who I mean when I say things like, "He's the guy that's not on Law & Order: SVU" (answer: Elias Koteas who I always confuse with Christopher Meloni, but I digress).

He can quote Back to the Future and Christmas Vacation by heart and one Christmas he watched at least 15 minutes of Love Actually before he realized it wasn't a Mr. Bean movie.  He dressed up with me to see the last two Harry Potter films – and probably will do again for the last one.

He laughs so hard at videos of animals on the internet that I think he might die.  And I suspect that he is the target audience for 99% of memes.

He's oddly frightened of things that he thinks are "too big" such as large American flags, construction cranes, water towers… There's something about this that I find super cute and endearing.

He's fantastic at cuddling and can make a killer omelet.  He's not above taking silly pictures with fake mustaches – or creating fake Facebook profiles for pictures of us with fake mustaches.

He's the best.  I like him a lot, like a lot a lot.

And tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary.  

We're spending the afternoon getting a couples massage and then he's taking me somewhere for dinner.  I don't know where and I haven't a clue, but I am asking him every chance I get (even though I told him to surprise me.  I do this around Christmas time too, when I want to know what he got me).

It feels like we've been together longer and I'm sometimes surprised when I realize that it has only been two years.  It feels like a lifetime in the most wonderful way you can imagine.  From the very beginning he seemed so familiar to me, like he fit, and he felt safe, like home.  I wouldn't trade these past two years for the world and I look forward to more years like these first two. 

I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it

God only knows what I'd be without you...

– God Only Knows // The Beach Boys

I [heart] Harry Potter OR How writing about a trip took on a life of it's own

Note: I started the post intending to just write about my trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Somehow, it turned into an epic about my love of HP.  Sorry if I bore you – you can skip to the review at the bottom.

If you've ever met me (which, let's face it, everyone who is reading this has), then you know how big of a Harry Potter fan I am.  I'm so vocal about my love that it's sometimes strange to those around me.  Case in point: the time I bought this Hold Steady shirt and commented to the Merch guy that it was like a mashup of my two favorite things: The Hold Steady and Harry Potter.  The Merch guy wasted no time in telling me it was meant to be an Elvis reference.  Whatever, dude.

I was a little late for the Harry Potter game, inasmuch as I hadn't read any of the books when the first film came out in 2001.  This isn't really surprising because I had just graduated from high school and, at the time, HP was mostly marketed towards younger kids in the States (one of my sisters, who is 6 years younger than me, was reading them at the time, so I didn't think much of investigating them and I had been busy doing the angry-high-school-punk-rock-thing for those 4 years between the first book and the first movie).  But my Dad had this conference at a Century Theater nearby and he invited me and Bear to go with him, as there was going to be private screening of Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone afterwards.  I went along for the company (my Dad is amazing) and because there was breakfast, but I wasn't that interested in the film.  In the end I was blown away. 

Two things happened that day after the movies.  First, I bought my '99 Honda Civic (that I would eventually christened Narcissa after the HP character), and secondly, I took that first drive in my new car down the Barnes & Noble and bought the first 4 HP books – everything that had been released at the time.  I was hooked.  I think my sisters and I saw Sorcerer's Stone like 5 times in theaters (a record only topped by our seeing Fellowship of the Ring at least 7 times in theaters – and yes, I do realize that is 21+ hours of my life, thankyouverymuch.  It was worth it). 

So, anyway, I'm a huge fan and have been for 10 years now and I've spent countless hours discussing theories and characters and listening to the audio books...*  So, imagine my excitement when I heard that they were going to be adding a section called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to Universal Studios, FL.  And then imagine my disappointment when I watched all of my other friends who are Potter fans go experience the magic without me.  When I found that I was going to be on the East Coast for my Cousin's wedding, I figured, why not just pop down to Orlando?  So I did.  And Boyfriend flew out to meet me for 2 amazing days in...

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!! 

So, was it everything I hoped and dreamed it would be?  I don't know...

The most impressive part of the whole thing is the area itself.  It really feels like walking into Hogsmeade, walking into a different country all together, with all the storefront windows.  There are all these little details everywhere.  Every time I walked by a shop, I noticed something new.  Though, it was strange to see this town in perpetual winter being swarmed by people in shorts and tee-shirts!  Walking into a real-life version of Honeydukes (where I bought Ton Tongue Toffee, Fizzing Whizzbees, Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans), Zonko's (where they sell You-No-Poo), and Ollivander's was like a dream.  And it is worth the wait to see Ollivander help someone pick out their first wand – or rather, have someone's first wand pick them? And, of course, we tried the Butterbeer.**

Boyfriend and I also had early admission so we high-tailed it straight for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey because we heard that the line could take hours.  But, because it was so early, we  pretty much walked on. Usually this wouldn't be something to complain about, but, seeing as half of the appeal of this ride is that the line is a walk through Hogwarts, it would have been nice to see everything more slowly.  And here's some slightly embarrassing honesty – I found this ride horrifying. Seriously.  I had to cover my eyes for a good portion of it (spiders, you know).  I can't imagine what the average kid that would think, as it's basically all the scary parts of the books rolled into one disorienting ride.

On the other hand, I LOVED the Dragon Challenge ride (which Boyfriend and I were calling Dueling Dragons, and unbeknown to us, that was it's pre-Wizarding World name). Not only was it just a fun ride, but seeing the other "dragon" fly under and around you is pretty awesome.  Also, if anyone asks, Chinese Fireball > Hungarian Horntail.  

One thing I found a little strange is that there almost no reference to anything past Goblet of Fire... And, as Boyfriend pointed out, there are no mascots like at Disneyland, though they did have a Hogwarts Choir and a Tri-Wizard rally, but damn, how awesome would it be to see Hagrid walking around?!  The section is also pretty small with just 3 rides, the shops, and the Three Broomsticks/Hog's Head.  We didn't need two full days to do everything, but we majorly lucked out and, according to employees there, both days we were there were very quiet – I guess on busy days they limit who can enter that section.

 We also had a lot of fun at the rest of the park – Islands of Adventure is more ride oriented than regular Universal Studios, apparently.  The Hulk and Spiderman rides in the Marvel section were awesome.  Boyfriend finally got to go on the Jurassic Park ride, which I had been on like 13 years ago and had remembered it much scarier than it actually is (I also realized that I had never seen the film Jurassic Park because, as I explained to Boyfriend, I was a 10-year-old girl when it came out and thus did not care).  The Lost Continent section featuring Poseidon's Fury was a big hit with me, and Boyfriend successfully kept the teasing to a minimum through Seuss Landing, which kinda scares the crap out of me (his artwork makes me very uncomfortable, but that's a different story).  We mainly just had fun being on vacation.

So here is my final verdict: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an awesome, but small section of a park and I am glad that I went.  It really is worth seeing if you're anything of a fan, but you probably don't need to base an entire trip around going.  In the future, I'd probably plan a trip to Magic Kingdom and save one day to head back to Wizarding World...  All and all, I did have a blast, but I'm also anxious to see if/how they continue to develop this section of the park.

*Fun fact: all of my devices (laptop, iphone, ipod, etc.) are all named after HP characters, and mostly from the Most Noble & Most Ancient House of Black. Also, my new car is called Kingsley.

**I didn't like Butterbeer that much, but I got the cold one, not the frozen one as was recommended. Personally, liked the one that my Cousin Kate and I made with Butterschnapps better... 

[all photos by endlessmeg or boyfriend] 

Fashion Friday : March 21 - 25

Don't worry, Dear Readers.  This isn't turning into a fashion blog (yet).  I fairly certain that I am too lazy for that at this point, inasmuch as I don't have the ability to a) pick out a nice outfit, b) take a picture of me in it, and c) write about it every day – but, gosh, I admire those who can!

I have been wanting to keep a record of what I wear to work – despite the fact that Big Computer Company is casual, I consistently wear skirts and dresses, and other more business-y attire while most everyone else wears jeans (in fact, the first time I wore jeans to work, it caused quite a ruckus).  After 13 years of wearing a uniform and then working a number of jobs that required me to put a t-shirt over whatever I wore, I'm embracing the fact that I can wear whatever I want.  And I want to wear cute skirts and boots, usually.

But see, the other reason that I'm not sure if I want to turn this into a daily showcase of what I wear is that 90% of my daily choice of clothes is based on what can be thrown into a gym bag and not get totally wrinkled. Which also means that my clothing choice is either picked out right before I fall asleep the night before or at 5:00am the morning of.  This has resulted in a lack of accessories, strange colour choices, and one time, wearing what I thought was a dress, but was actually a shirt that was inappropriately short for work.

All that being said, this is my attempt to keep track of what I wear each week, and maybe through that process figure out a bit more what works and what doesn't. . . Also it give me an excuse to take silly pictures with Boyfriend, who is the official endlessmeg photographer. Observe.

The sweater and tights, which are footless and the BEST thing in the universe if you have long legs, are from Target; the skirt is J.Crew and the boots are Miz Mooz (from Nordstroms) – both things I picked out and then were gifted back to me in the original shopping bag from The Queen for Christmas; sunglasses are BP and the ring is vintage – my Grandma had the best costume jewelry.  

The dress was surprising find at Forever 21 and the belt is an unknown brand from Nordstrom Rack.

I had been wearing the same boots from Monday, but this was way late at night and I hate shoes, so I had switched into Uggs (which are an annual purchase for me since the days of swim team).

This is one of my most favourite outfits ever.  The dress and belt are from Anthropologie – I used to live on the same street as one of the stores and I walked by every day on my way to work.   This dress was in the window and I tried it on 3 times before I finally broke down and bought it.  The tights and sweater are Target; the boots are Benetton and were a birthday gift 3 years ago (and kind of a long story...); the earnings are from a Gem & Jewelery show.

And some days I like to dress up for no real reason.  The skirt and top are H&M (which I tend to find is very hit or miss... maybe that's what it stands for... hmmm); The jacket is Kensie from Nordstrom Rack; the ankle boots are Steve Madden.  Also, yes, those are bowls on my ears – it was my cone of silence.

First off, I'm dancing in my head to Hall & Oats in these pics.  Now, let me tell you about these jeans.  There is a place on Santana Row in SJ called The Blue Jeans Bar.  You must go there.  First you tell them your size, then what style you are looking for and it's like personal shopping.  These are DL1961 which I had never heard of, but LOVE; the sweater is Banana Republic, from an after Christmas sale 2 years ago.

So that is my week in fashion and silly pictures.  What do you think?  Too many pictures in one post?  Should I try to do every day or every other day rather than once a week?  You tell me.

Valentines Day: Mixes and Cupcakes

If you know me, then you know that two of my favourite things are baking and music. And for Valentines day, I went all out with both. Aaaaand you'll know that doing a Valentine's post over a week later is about par for the course for me...

Anyway, for Boyfriend, I decided to make him a themed mix. Well, actually, it started with a vague Oldie's love song theme, but as I started to build it, 3 themes emerged. "Three themes?!" I thought to myself, "I'll have to make a Venn Diagram for something like that!" And I did!

1. The Beach Boys – Wouldn't It Be Nice
2. The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year
3. The Commitments – Try a Little Tenderness
4. The Rascals – Try a Little Tenderness
5. The Turtles – Good Lovin'
6. The Doors – Hello, I Love You
7. The Rolling Stones – Let's Spend the Night Together
8. The Kinks – All Day and All of the Night
9. The Commitments – Treat Her Right
10. The Crystals – And Then He Kissed Me
11. The Beatles – In My Life
12. The Beach Boys – God Only Know

I realize that The Commitments were formed in the 1990s for the amazing movie (check it out if you haven't – it's about Dublin Soul), but they were singing songs from the 1960s, so I figured it counted. Also, feel free to use this mix yourself. It's groovy boss wow.

Polar Bear paws and Bordeaux from See's and crazy unique roses from Boyfriend.

In return, Boyfriend bought me chocolates and flowers and took me to our favourite Sushi restaurant. He wasn't sure what to get me at first and for some reason he's was worried about it...

Me: Don't get me chocolates, I'll get fat.

Boyfriend: OK–

Me: Actually, no. I need you to go to See's and get me Polar Bear Paws. I need Polar Bear Paws.

So, while he was doing that, I made White Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes for work. Here's a preview, and I'll do a recipe post about them later...

Zodiac Fuss!

OR

So, the internets are all abuzz about the so-called "new Zodiac" signs. It's quite crazy considering how many people claim not to believe in "that sort of thing." Apparently, there have always been two different Zodiac systems – Tropical and Sidereal – and people are just now copping on to this fact. This is the biggest thing since sliced Beatles. People are weird.

Typically, I reserve knowledge of my sign for browsing the Horoscope sections of out of date magazines when waiting for the dentist twice a year (of course, this happens less and less now due to the constant companion of my iPhone, but I digress) and then gasping in astonishment at how accurate the prediction was based on what I remember happening 3 or so months ago. Now I'm having conversations left and right about this "new" Zodiac: people want to know if my sign changed, tell me if theirs has or hasn't, and then discuss the impact of these changes.

But what I find really strange is that I am oddly bothered by the fact that if I were to take store in the "new" or Sidereal Zodiac, I would not be a Leo anymore. And I can't really figure out why I'm bothered by this. Astrology is not something that I have ever invested that much in and I rarely think about my sign unless asked... But I guess over the past 27 years, it has become unwillingly part of my identity.

When people ask me my sign or when my birthday is, they tend to nod and smile understandingly, like "Oh, you're a Leo! That all makes sense now." And, sure, when you look at the characteristics of a Leo, some do fit me quite well. Is this why they have come to partially define me – other people's response to this information? That seems pretty likely.

The one thing that has always bothered me, however, are those people who, when meeting your Significant Other, always want to know both of your signs. They then proclaim how wonderful the math is, or else, shake their heads as if they have some greater understanding of your relationship than you do. I just don't why the fact that I was born at the end of July would make me incompatible with someone born in, say, September. Funny how these things work and ingrain themselves into your brain... I do tend to look up that sort of thing when I'm bored...

According to Wikipedia (which, you shall see, is pretty much my go-to source), the difference between Sidereal and Tropical Astrology (Tropical is the one we've all been going by) is in the opinion whether the system should be fixed to the seasons, i.e. the orientation of the Earth relative to the solar system, or to the background stars, i.e. the orientation of the Earth relative to the galaxy. Tropical Astrology chooses the former, Sidereal the latter.

And according to Sidereal, I am a Cancer not a Leo.

This may also be arbitrarily accurate in the same way the Leo traits seem to fit me. I have always thought of myself as more of a Water sign rather than a Fire sign. When I think of what kind of super powers I might have, I always picture myself with Magneto-type powers, only instead of metal, it would be with water – the ability to manipulate water and move quickly through it. I feel free and relaxed in the water, more so than anywhere else... maybe I've secretly felt like I was a Cancer all along? Though, it probably helps that my birthday is very close to the Cancer/Leo cutoff even on the Tropical Zodiac...

None of this really impacts my life much either way.

So, if at the end of all this, being a Cancer means that in some crazy way me and Boyfriend, who's birthday has stubbornly kept him a Virgo, are more "compatible" then I'm on board with whatever crazy system everyone wants to fashionably believe in.