Check one off the list!

New Year's Resolutions time once more, folks, and as you can see, I have totally succeeded from last year! My first goal was to stop procrastinating, and I'm writing this 3 days early. I saved New Years! On to 2012!

1. Fit into that one pair of pants. You know who you are, pants, aka, my Nemesis of Christmas. You caused me a lot of pain, suffering, and undignified pants-wearing habits. So, even though you aren't my pants, and I will probably never need to wear you again, this year I will defeat your evil, skinny ways!

2. Stop getting fries at Burger King. This might help with number 1. Anywho, my initial goal was to eat at BK less, but then I realized that I could still get burgers, which I really like, if I cut out their grody fries, which I totally don't.

3. Read all my church assignments during the week so I know what's going on in RS and Sunday School. Yes, this is a repeat goal from last year. And the year before. Actually, I did much better last year than I had before, so I figure if I keep making this kind of progress, I will probably be 100% on this one in about 20 years.

4. Get a passport. In case I need to quickly flee the country.

5. Read some children's classics. I finally read Winnie the Pooh last year (loved it!!), and this year, I'd like to knock out The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland.

6. Shop more at the farmer's market. First of all, it makes me feel cool. Second, they have good stuff. Third, I'm pretty sure it's good for the earth. Fourth, sometimes the people from Ace of Cakes shop there! So I'm going to do it.

I think that's enough to be going on for a while. I'd say the next year at least. Good luck with all of your resolutions, faithful readers!

'Tis the season!

I like to do it up right at Christmas, and by "it," I mean my house, and by "up right," I mean decorate it like there's no tomorrow. I've had some special requests (Hi, Mom!) to see the awesomeness, so here goes.

 

I got this nativity for $1! Awesome, yes?

 Crabs for Christmas! Yay! I live in Baltimore!

 I don't think anyone appreciates how awesome my wrapped bannister is, but it is really neat.

Jeffrey, my Christmas fish! Isn't he pretty? I will keep him, even after Christmas is over.

 Stockings hung by the chimney with care. I made the one in the middle, and I made the money that paid for the other two. Not made as in "made on my own printing press," but made as in "earned when I was working."

 Our Christmas tree! Kate cut it down herself. Very manly and tough. Plus, there's candy in all those little red boxes. :)

 Dollar store wreath! Actually, it cost more like like $5 plus labor, but I didn't charge myself for that.

 The tiny gingerbread house I made at Maren and David's.

For our last FHE at church, we also made gingerbread houses. You can't tell from the pictures, because there's nothing here for scale, but the one we made at FHE is about 5 times bigger that the one I just showed you. Anyhow, it was a group project type of thing. My group was Leah, Monica, Sabrina, and moi. I think we did a pretty good job!

 The back of our house, as decorated by me.

 Sabrina's side of the house, complete with climbing vines and a tiny snowman.

 Lean's side of the house, plus a really good view of the front porch as made by Monica.

 The front of the house, complete with stained glass windows, done by Monica. Notice the tiny snowman, plus the awesome roof done by Monica and me, and the red brick chimney (with smoke coming out).

Creepy gingerbread representation of me, as done by Leah. I made the skirt, though.

Ta da! My house, decorated for Christmas. There's a lot more, but I didn't think you'd want to see 500 more pictures. Have a Merry Christmas, y'all!

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

That's right, faithful readers! About one month ago (I am a slacker at blogging and at life), it was my birthday! We shall not mention my age or my birth year, because I don't want people to be able to stalk me through the internet. Yeah, that's what it is.

Anywhoodles, I had a great birthday. First of all, you can't go wrong with a Halloween birthday. You get to dress up, plus people give you candy! And when they find out it's your birthday, they give you extra candy! My lovely coworkers gave me great presents, including some super awesome Harry Potter pencils, a Butterbeer scented candle, Butterbeer earrings (they look like little bottles. They're so cute!), and Butterbeer flavored cupcakes. Mmmm...cupcakes...  Also, I have really nice church friends, who had a party for me and gave me socks! Apparently, they noticed my well-documented affection for socks. Good times.

The library team in our Halloween best. You can't see my HP scar in this picture, but I had several children convinced that it was real. I am just that skilled with makeup.

Then it was time for my present to me: another trip to New York City! I went with Kate and my friend Jessie (who also documented our fun times on her blog). When we got to NYC, we met up with Niki (who was already there because an international friend had been visiting), and Larissa, our awesome friend in Brooklyn who let us stay with her. Niki and Larissa spent a lot of the trip pretending to be embarrassed by Kate, Jessie, and me, because we inadvertently wore matchy red jackets, but I know the truth. They were just jealous.

 

We even walk in sync. That's how awesome we are. No wonder they were jealous.

The first thing we did (besides sleeping and eating, which are things I do all the time, so they don't seem exotic) was go to the Empire State Building! It's really, really tall. And after you ride the elevator up to the 80th floor, the workers will tell you that it's much faster to walk the last 6 flights of stairs, rather than waiting for the elevator. They're not entirely wrong. It was pretty fast. But they're big fat liars about it only being 6 flights of stairs. I definitely counted 8. Luckily I have Sheera power, so I handily made it to the top. I thought we might lose some of our party on the way  up, though.

So yeah, the Empire State Building is crazy tall. I took about a million pictures from the top, just to prove that I was there. Also, I actually remembered to bring my camera and to get new batteries, so it seemed like I ought to take advantage of that. 

 

My favorite of my Empire State Building pics. I look pretty!

Also, the views (you can basically see the entire city, and since it's ginormous, that's a big deal) are totally awesome, so I took about a billion pictures of those. Here's a few that freaked out Mom. I told her I leaned waaaaay out to get them. JK. She was just freaked out because you can tell how crazy high up we are.

Look at how little the cars are!

 

This one kind of freaks me out, too, if I'm being honest.

We spent a whole lot of time up at the top, admiring the views and attempting to get really cute pictures of ourselves on all sides of the Empire State Building.

 

Admiring the View. This picture is a lie. I did not have any quarters for this machine.

 A pigeon that freaked me out at the top of the Empire State Building. Doesn't it know how high up we were? How did it get up there? Why did it get up there?? What does it want from us?!?!?!

Then we had to spend some time in the gift shop, of course. I really, really wanted one of these gorillas for my collection (why yes, I do have a collection of gorilla stuffed animals. Thank you for asking!). But since the price of one Santa-hatted gorilla was only $1 less that the fee to get to the top of the Empire State Building, I couldn't really justify it.

 

Curse my public servant salary!!!

After our trip to the Empire State Building, it was time for everyone to indulge me! Because it was birthday! So we went to the main branch of the New York Public Library! I mostly wanted to see everything, but even more than that, I mostly wanted to see the lions. Do you know about the lions? They're ginormous marble lions out in front of the library, named, appropriately enough, Patience and Fortitude. That's appropriate because those are two of the main virtues you need to work in a public library!

 

Fortitude! 

Patience!

The library was just as amazing as I hoped it would be. It's almost like a museum, it's so pretty inside and out. And there's a gift shop! My "Shhhhh!" t-shirt was a great investment. In my happiness.

 There were many steps and columns. It was most tranquil.

I don't know why this picture is so little, but look how pretty the inside of the library is! Look!

The other awesome thing about the library was that I saw a celebrity! A librarian celebrity! I read a blog on School Library Journal's website by a children's librarian at NYPL. And almost as soon as we stepped into the library, I saw her! I'm afraid I might have gone a little swimfan on her, but rather that being freaked out, she was super nice, and said it made her feel like a rock star! (True story, we communicated about that through her blog post the next week.) The best part about it was that she told us about the first 90-second Newbery Film Festival, which just happened to be occurring at the library in about 15 minutes! We stayed for about an hour, watching many 90-second films about Newbery award-winning books. It was super fun! I wish we could have stayed for the whole thing, but fabulous New York City weekend waits for no woman (not even a librarian), so we missed the last half. Still, it was awesome. Plus, Jon Sciezka was there! Anyhow, you should really check out some of the 90-second films. They're very impressive and short.

After our fabulous and educational time at the library, we decided to get tickets to a Broadway show. I'll not lie, this is my favorite thing about NYC. Broadway!!! We really wanted to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, because little Danny Rad-cakes is in it! But it was sold out (sad face), so we had to settle for this:

The closest we could get to Daniel Radcliffe. :(

But we still really, really wanted to see a show, so Kate and I were tyrants, and made us buy tickets to Billy Elliot instead! I think not everyone wanted to see it, but they bought the tickets anyway, with very little protest. And they all liked it in the end, so I'd say it worked out. In the time that we had to wait before our show, we decided to eat dinner at a restaurant called Juniors. It's the busiest, fullest restaurant I have ever been in. There were seriously about 10 million people in there. I think it's because it's right there in the theater district, so all those hungry theater people come to eat. Also, they have excellent cheesecake, which we knew from our last visit to NYC. I wish I had taken a picture of the cheeseburger I got. It was enormous! I honestly didn't even eat my fries (or finish the burger) because I was so stinkin' full. I couldn't even stomach ordering cheesecake! But I did order a black and white cookie (which came in super handy on our bus ride back to Baltimore Sunday night).

 

This...is not a picture that I took. I stole it from the interwebs. But yeah, imagine this, with about 5 times as many people, and that should give you a good idea what it was like.

After dinner it was time for us to see Billy Elliot: The Musical. For those who don't know, Billy Elliot was a movie made about 11 years ago, about a little boy who lives in Northern England in the 1980s during the coal miners' strike. In 2005, Billy Elliot was turned into a musical with music by Elton John! Fancy! Also, it won a bunch of Tony's when it first opened on Broadway. Anywho, Billy is an 11 year old boy who starts taking ballet, kind of by chance, and it turns out that he's really good and loves to dance, but people aren't necessarily supportive of him. The play is about Billy and his dancing, and the town and the strike, and it was awesome. The boy who played Billy was amazing. He made me feel bad for having no talents, he was just that good. He was a fantastic dancer, his singing was lovely, and he was such a good actor that he made not only me cry, but Kate as well! And that's much harder than making me cry. There is some bad language in it, (especially in this one super awesome song that's goes back and forth between the miners and the little girls in Billy's ballet class), but I would still definitely recommend the show. If you want to see it on Broadway though, you better hurry, because it's closing in January!

 

He just wanted to dance, and that was my dream, too!

After the show, we wandered around Times Square for awhile, including going into the M&Ms store, which was pretty neat. By this point, though, I was super tired and I refused to take my camera out. So I don't have any photographic evidence of it, but honestly, we were there.

Sunday was our day for winding down, going to church, and then heading back to Baltimore. I ate my giant cookie on the bus. It was a great way to leave New York. I can tell why people fall so completely in love with the city. I've had so much fun both times that I've gone! I can't wait to go again! Of course, a lot of it is because of the people I was with. So thanks a bunch for being awesome, Kate, Jessie, Niki, and Larissa! You made it a great birthday trip!

Group Shot!

I did it!

I grew something in my garden, and then I ate it before a rat did!

Those of you have been following my gardening woes know that last year, my maiden voyage of front-yard gardening, was a complete and resounding failure. All of my plants died, and not one produced any sort of food. This year, I tried some new tricks, but it looked like my garden might still follow a similar course. First of all, it was, once again, really hot and dry this summer, but I was much more diligent about watering than I was last summer. Second, I actually planted these plants in the soil, instead of just in large pots.

Anyhow, things started off with a whimper, as my zucchini plant shriveled up and died in less than a week. But my tomatoes were growing steadily taller, and my peppers weren't shrinking, so that seemed like a good sign. And in August, something exciting happened: I saw an actual tomato on one of my tomato plants! It was still tiny and green, so I decided to wait for it to grow/ripen. That ended up being a mistake, because the day I finally went out to pick it, I discovered that a large bite had been taken out of it! Oh Noes! My conclusion was that a rat had eaten my tomato. I was a bit discouraged.

Then came September and the floods. Not literally, but almost. We had a whole heck of a lot of rain the last part of summer/early part of autumn. The result: my peppers started to grow! And yesterday, I was finally able to enjoy the fruits of my labor when I ate a banana (I think) pepper grown in my own front yard! I ate it in a quesadilla, for anyone wondering. It was delicious!

This is not an actual picture of the pepper I grew in my yard, by the way. I tried to get of picture of that, but my camera is dead, and going to the store to buy batteries was not something I wanted to do. But this gives you a pretty good idea. 

So that's my success story. I also have a bell (I think) pepper growing, and I'm really hoping that I get to eat it before it dies or gets eaten my rodents. My goal for next year is to be able to eat at least 3 things from my garden. Any gardening tips, faithful readers?

I'm famous!

Because I am mentioned in a very fancy pants book blog!

But first, some background. This blog was written by my pen pal. That's right, I have a pen pal! I'm cool like that. Seriously, though, I never had a pen pal when I was a kid (when most people have/get pen pals). But I always thought it might be cool, so when the lovely ladies at FYA (a site I have mentioned here before) started a pen pal club, I signed up immediately.

Anywho, now I have a pen pal. And her name is Meredith! I know what you're thinking, but it's not me writing myself letters so I will feel popular. It's actually another person whose name is also Meredith! She lives near Boston, and in spite of the name of her blog, is not a librarian. So you can see that we are, in fact, two separate individuals. But she's awesome, and a totally great pen pal. Every time I get a letter from her in the mail, it puts a big smile on my face. There's just something about getting mail, and getting mail from someone who is only my friend through the United States Postal Service. Hopefully we will be pen friends for a very long time.

There you have it! My 15 minutes of fame! BTW, in case you haven't already done so, now is the time for you to go back and read the fancy pants book blog that mentions me. I'll wait. Welcome back! I wish that my blog about pen pals could be as clever and filled with action figures as hers, but let's be honest. Even if I had action figures, I could not put them on this blog. My camera's batteries are dead.

I am boring

Hello friends and family! I realized today that I haven't posted in almost a month, but then I realized why: I am boring. I don't think a single significant thing has happened to me in the last month except that my shows are back on. Whee!

After thinking about it for a while longer, though, I realized what the problem is: I have been blogging a lot (like, once a week a lot) for work, and it's using up my creative energy! So, I am going to link you to my work blog, and you'll see why I can't think of anything clever to say here. 

If you decide to read it, you should start with George in New York and work your way up from there. It's pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. Enjoy! Or not. I don't know your life.

Next up: Plague of Locusts!

I have survived 2 separate natural disasters in one week: an earthquake and a hurricane! First up, there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia last Tuesday that was felt all the way up in New York. So we definitely felt it in Baltimore. I was at work, talking with some coworkers at the circulation desk. We heard something by the windows, and thinking it might be the window washers or some kids messing around outside, I said I would go and see who it was. Before I had taken two steps though, the entire building started shaking, and people were freaking out. My branch manager yelled, "Everybody get outside!" And to set a good example, she reached the door in about 1.2 seconds.

After about half an hour outside trying unsuccessfully to use our cell phones (I gave a helpful speech about why an earthquake might disturb cell phone service to a bunch of children), we were told we could go back inside. Then about 5 minutes later they changed their minds and told us all to go home. And I had only been at work for about three hours! I ended up spending the afternoon with Maren and Grace, making tropical squares, hiking in the woods, watching The Electric Company, and eating dinner. It was a really nice day. Thanks, earthquake! The only damage at work-some cracks in the walls that might have gotten bigger. The only damage at home-one of my pictures tipped over. All in all, my kind of natural disaster.

My second natural disaster was Hurricane Irene. I'll admit, this one wasn't as pleasant as the earthquake because:

1. We knew she was coming. So we spent a lot of time getting really nervous about her. 
2. Even though I got out of work 2 hours early on Saturday, I have to use my own time for it. Boo! 
3. The main storm hit while I was asleep, so I didn't even get to appreciate it. 
4. There was apparently some kind of leaking by the front door of my house, so it is now freakishly hard to open and close it. We're really hoping that it will dry out in a couple of days and go back to normal. If not, our landlord says he'll come and shave down the doorframe or something. I don't know. 
5. Church was canceled. Of course, I had already made my food for munch and mingle, so now I have a ginormous bowl up substandard (I messed up the recipe) German potato salad to finish off, and I don't think I can do it. Plus, having home church is way hard. You can only do churchy things for so long by yourself before you start to go crazy. 
6. The tree in my front yard was almost completely blown over in the storm! I should have taken some pictures of it before I staked it up, but I didn't think to. So you'll just have to trust me. It was leaning over a lot more than this. Also, trust that it is a heavier tree than it looks. I literally could not get it to stand up any taller than this.

But by far the worst thing about the hurricane was the power outages. We got lucky at my house, and the power never even flickered. But I'm pretty sure that was just our street and a few houses around the corner. A good portion of the rest of the neighborhood was still without power as of this morning. Maren and Dave had no power for about 42 hours. Several of the libraries in the city have been closed because they have no power. And most tragic of all, the schools have been closed! The first, blessed day of school was supposed to be Monday, but since many of the city schools had no power, they have been off for the last two days. It just isn't fair. I was supposed to be free! Free!!!

Update: Since typing the above, I have heard that school is starting tomorrow! I'm saved!

Anywho, those were my two natural disaster experiences. Since I have gone my whole life without living though any natural disasters, it's pretty amazing to have had two in one week. I can only conclude that this trend will continue and try to prepare. I think we'll be facing a plague of locusts next, but for our fourth disastrous occurrence, I can't decide what it will be. I'm torn between Rise of the Machines and Zombie Apocalype. The way things are going, we might get both! But rest assured, unless it's the Rise of the Machines, I will be blogging about it!

I rewatched it so you don't have to: Roswell, Season 1

Aka, my obsession for two years of high school. This post is for Chelsea! And any other closet Roswell fans who read my blog. Once, our friend John had to plan a fake campaign trip for his fake run for office, and he said one of his stops was going to be Roswell, NM because Chelsea and I would surely be living there. My computer password for all of high school was "Roswell." Don't get any ideas-that's not my password now, so stop trying to hack me!

Okay, so eventually I plan on rewatching the entire series, but after binging on season 1 (I honestly watched it in about a week), I needed a break. So, without further ado, my thoughts on Roswell Season 1.

First of all, I can't believe these kids were supposed to be the same age as me! They look older than I do now, and it's been 10 years(!). Seriously though, they're not even trying to look like teenagers! Max is actively looking middle-aged.

Speaking of Max: What a buzzkill! Honestly, he has no personality at all except boring. Is boring a personality? On the other hand, that makes him perfect for Liz, who, in spite of her super shiny hair, is about as exciting as watching paint dry. And man, those two are gross together. I honestly reached a point where I would automatically cringe and look away whenever they would kiss. Gross! They disgust (and bore) me. And when Max isn't wearing a shirt: EW!!! I have never been so disgusted by someone's muscles before (or since). At the end of the season, when we find out that Max is the leader of the aliens, I believe I said something like, "Oh you have got to be kidding me!!! He is going to be so much more lame than before!" C'mon Max! Remember when you were in that one episode of Buffy? You were awesome! What happened to you? I can only conclude that Roswell sucked the fun out of you. It's a fun sucker.

On to more interesting/exciting things, namely Kyle. Seriously, when Liz dumped him, I kept yelling very rude and uncomplimentary things at her. She's a fool! Kyle is the best/funniest character on the show! Honestly, the extra helping of Kyle is what I'm looking forward to most in season 2. Woo! Kyle! I love you and your cowboy outfits! And your hair!

While we're at it: Sheriff Valenti, good job for being the grown-up on the show. You always wore a cowboy hat. That's about it. Oh, and stop trying to arrest Max for saving Liz's boring life! It's not illegal! Good job becoming less crazy by the end of the season, but really, you should have paid more attention to your son Kyle (aka, the light of my Roswell life).

Okay, on to Isabel! Um, I feel uncomfortable by the fact that really old guys are always hitting on her. Because she's supposed to be 17. But she is a better actress than Liz and is about a million times more interesting that Max, so there's that. Plus, she's definitely the most famous Roswell alum. You go, Isabel! True, many people find you to be incredibly annoying, but at least you're not irrelevant! P.S. If I were you, I would just tell Max to shut it and tell my mom the truth. She deserves it/Max sucks. And BTW, you should really not pretend to like Alex. It makes us all feel weird on the inside.

Hey Alex! She's not into you! And your BFF Liz is totally suck! You should try to hang out with Maria and Kyle more. And maybe get a new stylist. This totally baggy look is not good for you.

Last but certainly not least, we have Michael and Maria! YAY!!! Aside from Kyle (ILU, Kyle!), Michael and Maria and definitely the reason to watch this show. I feel like this is what they might have been going for with Liz and Max, except that Michael and Maria and interesting, funny, and not painful to watch. Yeah, I said it. Plus, Michael is all damaged because of his crappy childhood! And Maria and all quirky because of her weirdo mom! Thanks for making Roswell swoony for me, you guys!

Okay, other stuff about the show. Since this show takes place when I was actually in high school myself, the fashion is really representative of how people looked (or wanted to look) at that time. Some of the fashions are hideous! But I was very surprised by how nostalgic it made me for some of those fashions. Not belly shirts, though. That does not look good on anyone. Also, I totally remember loving Maria's hair, but it is really stupid. So I obviously had bad taste.

Other things to mention-the technology! Remember when Miss Topolski is trying to send a secret message to the FBI, and she has to wait for her dial-up internet to connect? Good times! I remember dial-up! Mom would always need to use the phone while we were trying to use the internet or vice versa! So frustrating. Anywho, while we're on the subject of technology, will someone please get busy with inventing my flying car? Thanks.

Finally, the theme song! Oh man, I love!!!!!!! this theme song. Even now, I still totes love it. In fact, one of the first CDs I ever owned was a Dido CD, which I got because of the Roswell theme song. Whoever picked that theme song did a real grood job.

So, overall, this is a totally cheesy and kinda dumb teen show, but I can see why I loved it so much as an actual teenager. And I really am looking forward to season 2. If only Liz and Max weren't in it...

I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me: a review of the final Harry Potter movie ever (Sob!)

Readers, you are lucky that this is a review of the last Harry Potter movie, not the last Harry Potter book. Because if it was the book, I would be crying too much to be coherent, and my tears would probably short out the keyboard I am typing on. Because, SPOILER ALERT: it's sad. Which is not to say the movie wasn't sad. It was. But at least when I was watching the movie, I knew who was going to die, so I wasn't shocked and stunned sad.

Anywho, without further ado, my review, in bullet points.

• Times I have seen the movie: 2
• I saw it with my roommate Kate on Friday (opening day) at 7 and again on Monday after work. But aside from the next bullet point, my review will focus on the first time I saw it.

• Times I saw the movie in 3D: 1
• Philosophy confirmed by finally seeing a movie in 3D: If I wanted to see things in 3D, I would be out living my life, not watching a movie! Honestly, there were only about 2 cool moments, and the rest of the time the 3D was distracting. Definitely not worth $3 extra.

• Time I waited in line for the bathroom: 20 minutes. It's a good thing we got there a little early! Kate and I saw the movie at a very cool old theater that has about a billion seats and a ginormous screen, but they have the smallest ladies room in the world! Luckily, people were going super fast. 
• Number of people who gave up and left the line because they were worried the movie would start while they were waiting: at least 5. The panic about missing the opening minutes was hilarious, but I was starting to get nervous myself, so I can't judge. My favorite moment: A girl who was actually in the stall doing her business saying in a totally panicked voice, "I can't believe this is happening!" We had started a rumor that the movie was starting early. Ha ha!
• Number of friends I made in line: 4! People waiting to use the bathroom at the final Harry Potter movie ever are super friendly. Except for when we started that rumor. That was kind of mean. Good times.

• Number of people I saw in costume: more than I could count. I was a little amazed, because I thought people only dressed up at midnight showings. But it was so fun! And it made me really glad that I wore my muggle shirt and my Luna Lovegood earrings.

• Number of times my little neighbor (he was probably about 15) asked me if that happened in the book: at least 3. My answer: Isn't this your favorite book ever? Isn't that what you told me right before this movie started?? Isn't it??? 
• Number of times he asked me what the people onscreen just said: about the same. To be clear, I actually did try to answer his questions. But since it's his favorite book ever written (not just his favorite Harry Potter book) it seemed like he would know better than me. Perhaps he recognized my superior intellect and naturally gravitated towards it?

•  Number of time the audience spontaneously started cheering and clapping: So, so many. I can count at least 10 times, but there may have been more. And since I was cheering and clapping right along with them, I didn't mind one bit.
• Person who got the most spontaneous cheering: Neville Longbottom. I'm pretty sure. In any case, he's fabulously awesome, plus he grew up to be extremely handsome.

• Number of times I cried: 4. I won't say when for the sake of those who've not read the books (Shame!!!) or seen the movie yet, but I will say that 3 of those times, they were quiet tears and restrained sniffling. And the 4th time, which was when the credits started rolling, Kate and I were both full-on sobbing. We sat through the credits so we could pull ourselves together. And I definitely heard other people crying throughout the film. Oddly enough, when I saw the movie for the second time, I didn't cry as much, but I did cry at one different place in the movie. 

• Number of things left out/changed from the books that I wish they had left in: at least 6. But to be fair, I didn't think of those things at all while I was watching the movie. It was only later while I was thinking about it in depth that I remembered what was missing.

• Number of people shorter than Daniel Radcliffe: 1. Spoiler Alert!!! It's Seamus. Dude turned out tiny. 

• Number of super awesome special effects: Trick question, all the effects are awesome.

• Number of times I wished I was a wizard: continuously, throughout the entire film.

Is this movie as good as the books? No. Don't be silly. But I'd say it's one of the best films in the franchise. One segment in particular (it features Snape, but you'll get no more specifics from me) was wonderful. Alan Rickman, I officially revoke my opinion that you are too old to play Snape. I mean, you totally are, but you're super awesome, so I'll allow it.

So, the real reason I'm sad? The one-of-a-kind, shared Harry Potter experience is over.  Sure, it's been different since the last book came out (I don't know if anything will ever top going to midnight book releases, then feverishly reading and obsessively discussing with other fans), but as long as we still had the movies to look forward to, that communal experience could go on, at least in part. Sure, we still have the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but that's a really expensive trip away. I sometimes envy kids who are just starting to read Harry Potter for the first time, because they have such a treat in store for them. But really, we're the lucky ones. We got to experience it as it happened, with our friends, and with perfect strangers that became friends through the magic of Harry Potter.

To conclude, I'll quote from my book review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Will there ever be another series like Harry Potter? I don't know. I hope so. But even if there isn't, we'll always have Harry Potter!

More Harry Potter, aka "I'm not sick of it yet, and you shouldn't be either!"

Besides, faithful readers, the last Harry Potter movie ever is coming out this week. I think that deserves celebrating/crying. Which is why my roommate Kate and I just had an excellent Harry Potter party at our house, called, appropriately, "End of an Era." Sniff. But this isn't a post about being sad. It's a post about being awesome!

First and foremost awesome: the food! As any good HP fan knows, the food described in Harry Potter sounds both magical and delicious. So we put on our aprons and slaved away like house elves to make some delicious snacks. We had the ever popular pumpkin pasties, cockcroach free (probably) cockcroach clusters, and licorice wands. We also had toad-in-the-hole, which was extremely popular, if only for the fact that it was our only snack not completely stuffed with sugar. Also, sausage is good. And of course, we had delicious beverages. The pumpkin juice was delightful (I keep drinking the leftovers), and the Butterbeer was so rich and delicious that one diabetic guest had to take insulin after drinking it. Good times. I'm not sure that it was as good as the Butterbeer we got at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but this was our first time making it. We shall persevere! But not too soon. The Butterbeer hangover is unpleasant.

 Finally, a chance to reuse my Butterbeer mug!

 Mmmm...Snacks...

Second and probably even more awesome: the costumes! We had a lot of muggles show up to the shindig, which was a little lame, but the people who did dress up brought it! And of course, since it was a contest that I was determined to win, I think you'll be pleased to know that I came in...second. But the girl who won was very deserving. I voted for her. Plus, I think I'm still the real winner, because I got the awesome lion hat.

 Dobby (Sabrina) is a free elf! Behold the winner.

 It's Cho Chang (Nella), y'all! Most authentic costume?

 Professor Trelawney(Jessie)! She did not tell any weird fortunes. Unfortunately.

 Madam Rosmerta (Kate) is sassy! And she's the best cook in the ward!

 Harry Potter (Zefron) and Hedwig. Can you believe no one else dressed as Harry? Also, note his yellow eyebrow, a joke that not a single other person there understood.

Yours truly as Luna Lovegood! I will probably not wear this hat to the movie. It's a bit too tall. And warm.

 

Look at all those muggles! It's shocking! And these were just the early arrivals!

Third, and pretty awesome: we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. That's mostly so we'll be totally ready this Friday to watch the final film installment. Sniff.

Last, and most awesome of all: We are popular! We had more than 20 people come to our party (more than attended the ward activity earlier in the day. Sorry, ward! I couldn't come because I was working!). But the really amazing thing was how many of the people were not even Harry Potter fans. They are, of course, crazy. But the point is, these people who have never read the books (or only read 1) and only seen 1 or 2 of the films still totally wanted to hang out with us. Because we're cool. Yeah, we make this look good!

 Group shot! 

Back row, L-R: Madam Rosmerta, Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, Professor Trelawney, Cho Chang

Front row, L-R: Hedwig, Dobby

I'm in a rage! This is the maddest I've ever been!

Slight exaggeration, I suppose, but only slight! True story-this week I was planning on blogging about my summer obsession, So You Think You Can Dance. I would mention how much I love certain competitors past (call me, Pasha!), how many times I voted for Robert last season (so, so many), and my girl crush on Cat Deeley. We would be great friends, I just know it! And she would take me shopping, and we'd be super happy together! As best friends.

But last night, the unthinkable happened: my favorite dancer of the season got booted from the show. NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Nick, I love you! How did this happen???? So early in the season? After I already declared my undying love and devotion to you on Facebook? Sniff. Now I'm sad. I'm sure that I'll keep watching this season, because it really is my raison d'etre in the summer, but I am not happy. All I can say is "Boo! Hiss!" to America for not voting for Nick (how could you, America? I thought we were friends!). And to the judges who made the final call--I can't even. Ugh. You make me sick!



Sniff. Again. Look how cute, tall, and charming he was. To reiterate: I am most seriously displeased.

ABC Autobiography

Some kids who come to the library had to do this for school, and I thought it sounded both fun and time consuming. Plus, they kept complaining about how hard it was, and I made fun of them, so I figured I ought to give it a shot. Here I go!

A-Aunt. I love being an aunt! I'm related to the cutest kids in the world, and at the end of the day, I get to give them back to their loving parents. It's the best of both worlds.

B-Blind-At a recent trip to the eye doctor, the people made fun of my crazy prescription. Rude. But yeah, it's really strong.

C-Church-I don't just go on Sundays! I don't blog about church often, but it's the most important thing in my life.

D-Dogs-I wants one!

E-Eileen-My middle name, inherited from both Mom and Grandma. If I ever have a daughter (fingers crossed!), she will also get this middle name.

F-Fish-The only pet that I personally have ever owned. I miss you, Dexter!

G-Gorillas-My favorite animal. For a little while, I wanted to be a gorilla scientist! But I didn't want to live in the jungle.

H-Harry Potter-I have blogged about this often, so you guys know how much I love HP.

I-Internet-The thing that makes blogging possible.

J-Jam-I really like that reduced sugar kind. It's kind of tart, and the color is less weird.

K-Kickball-It starts with K. I don't really like playing it.

L-Librarian-It's my profession. And, oddly enough, the profession of many, many people that I know.

M-Meredith-Yay me!

N-Nedric-My car. Mostly I just call him Ned.

O-October-Only the best month to be born in.

P-Pink-My favorite color for most of my life, although now I'm not sure that I have a preference. I might like red.

Q-Quiet! I say this a lot as part of my profession.

R-Reading-My favorite hobby, which led to my profession.

S-Sisters-I have a lot, and they're all great! I always feel bad for people who don't have sisters.

T-Twins (like us)-Chelsea! My favorite twin! We have so much fun together, it's always kind of hard to remember that we don't get to see each other very often. Sob! If only someone would invent instantaneous molecular transport!

U-Utah! Best. State. Evah!!!1!11!

V-Victory! V as in Victory! A common phrase in our family.

W-Watching TV-I was going to lie, but this is an autobiography, and I really like doing this activity.

X-X-ray. When I broke my arm when I was 7, I distinctly remember that the x-ray technician was missing 2 fingers on one of her hands. Kind of like Fingerless Steve.

Y-Yo-Yo Ma-I wanted to say something about playing the cello and the piano, and this is how I fit it in.

Z-Zefron-My roommate, and the star of only the best trilogy ever made, High School Musical.

Well, if you're still reading, I admire you. And I feel really bad for making fun of those kids. This was super hard. It took me several weeks to finish, and as you can see, I'm really reaching with a few of these letters. I think they had to put in pictures too, but I am not that ambitious. Anyhow, there you have it. Me!

I'm a Travelin' Fool, Part 2: Fool in the Big City!

Week 2! During week 2 of my traveling adventures, I went to New York City with Kate, Niki, and Elizabeth. I had never been to New York before, because when you live in Utah, it's really, really far away. But when you live in Baltimore, it only takes 3.5 hours to get to the city on the bus. Craziness! That's like driving to Cedar City! So after getting really cheap bus tickets ($20 round trip, yo), we decided to head to the Big Apple.

The first thing that happened when we got there-Mom called! She sounded very worried that we would die, so I called her several times throughout the day to reassure her. Our adventures started right away. We were staying with Elizabeth's friend in Brooklyn, so we hopped on the subway to get there.

Here we are, riding the subway. It's kinda gross.

We actually rode on the subway 6 or 7 times during the trip. It's super confusing, and I would not trust myself to navigate it without help. On the bright side though, the pricing is really easy and pretty darn cheap, which you can definitely not say for the metro in DC.

Our next adventure was eating lunch at a diner, which was only notable because I still had my big bag with me, and literally as soon as we stepped into the diner, I accidentally knocked over a man's drink with my luggage. It was super embarrassing. Luckily, while I was still apologizing and feeling much shame, the restaurant staff ran over with paper towels and a mop to clean it up, plus a fresh drink for the man. He was really nice, too. The food was delicious too, so that's a bonus.

Then we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn!!! Niki and I may have serenaded the group with some songs, Newsies style.

 

It's a fine life, carrying the banner!

Photographic evidence that I called Mom while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge!

Brooklyn!!!

The real reason we went to New York so soon after our previous weekend trip was  Harry Potter: the Exhibition at Discovery Times Square. It's basically a super cool museum with actual props from the actual Harry Potter movies! And it's only in New York until September, so we had to get on it quick! There's no photography allowed in the exhibition (drat!), so I'll just have to tell you that it was awesome. I really liked seeing things up close. I think my favorite was seeing the clothes from the Yule Ball. Cho Chang's dress is amazing, y'all. I wants it! It was amazingly gorgeous in person. And Ron's dress robes are way more hideous that I had imagined. Yikes. I loved seeing how tiny the kids were (are), especially in their clothes from Year 1. I really loved seeing all of the Death Eater stuff. It seems sick (and it is), but seeing the detail up close makes the Death Eater soooooo scary! It's amazing how much fantastic craftsmanship there is in the props, especially since you can't see most of it onscreen. Since we couldn't take any pictures, here's a link to an article from Entertainment Weekly (journalists could totally take pictures). And yeah, this is basically what it was like. If you have to choose between this and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I'd go Wizarding World, but this was cheaper, and if you're in NYC, it's definitely worth a look.

 

 The only picture we took of HP.

The next thing we did in New York was see Wonderland on Broadway! It actually closed the night after we went (sad). And apparently, in the last show, the guy who played Jack (the main guy) totally proposed to the lady who played Alice! So sweet! Of course, the night we were there, that did not happen. In fact, Alice was played by the understudy that night, so it probably would have been awkward for Jack to propose to her. Still, it's a nice story. Anywho, it was a very funny musical, and we had a great time. It's not as good as Wicked, which Kate and I saw in Florida, but I'd still say it's worth seeing if you ever get the chance. Honestly, the "One Knight" song alone was worth the price of admission. So funny.

The view in Times Square after we left Wonderland.

 

Then we wandered around Times Square, basically trying to avoid having seizures or getting trampled. It's insane. And we bought super expensive but delicious cheesecake.

We're tourists! 

 Niki is not a tourist. Look how cool she is!

The important lesson I learned on our first day in New York: Almost nowhere in the city has drinking fountains, so take a water bottle. Dehydration is not your friend!

Sunday morning we went to church. We attended the ward that meets in the same building as the temple. I'm pretty sure at least half of the people there were visitors. I wonder if it's like that every week. Obviously, we didn't go the actual temple, since it was a Sunday, but the building is very pretty, and it was definitely cool to see the Angel Moroni up there when we got off the subway.

It's not really that tall, but it's hard to get a distance shot because of all the other tall stuff.

 

The reason we went to church at the temple ward is because the temple is right by Central Park! After church, we wandered around the park for a couple of hours. It's ginormous! I got very tired of walking, and we only saw a little portion of the park. It was a gray, foggy day, the kind that makes everything look beautiful and a little surreal. It also made everything look super green. 

 

 It's a city, and it's a park! Amazing!

 Famous fountain.

Apparently, this is a super famous fountain that has starred in many movies. For me, this was a nod and smile while thinking, "Which movies? Why am I so ignorant?!?!?" I guess it looks kind of familiar. I need to watch a bunch of New York City movies now until I figure it out.

 

Me and my lizard purse in Central Park.

 

Then it was time to catch our bus back to Baltimore. We were in New York for about 25 hours, and we did a lot of things! But there was a lot that we talked about doing that we just couldn't fit in, so I guess I'll have to go back sometime. For now, though, I'm staying put. Being a travelin' fool makes me tired.