Saturday, November 28, 2009

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Appetizers


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year I just made the following appetizers to take to Seth's mom's house:

It was my first time making the flatbread, and I was intimidated, but it all turned out just fine. It was a little time consuming cooking the bread on the stove, but part of the problem was that it took me a little to figure out the best temperature setting. I definitely recommend this recipe, so visit the myfoodaffair blog and check it out.

Friday, November 20, 2009

November 20 , 2009 is Finally Here!


The movie version of New Moon is in wide release, and I just got home from the Nordstrom screening. Chris Weitz did a great job, and I am content. Of course, I plan to see this in theater again, and I know next time I will scrutinize less. It also may help not to sit near someone who makes loud commentary throughout the movie. Mostly she said "wow" and it pretty much ruined the effect of a pack of wolves stalking a vampire.

Now, about the movie (stop reading if you want to judge the movie for yourself).

I thought Melissa Rosenberg captured the essence of the book well, and I am happy with what was and was not included. As I mentioned earlier, Chris Weitz did an excellent job, and the special effects did not disappoint. Even Seth, who does not care for CGI, thought the wolves were awesome.

Side note: Seth prefers Jacob to Edward now that he has experienced New Moon. This is something my youngest sister will be happy about, but I am not so thrilled.

The fight scenes are better than I expected, and I especially enjoyed the addition of the row between Felix and Edward. Thumbs up on making the Cullens all look more like the Cullens of my imagination. Thumbs down on the silly moment that flashes through Alice's mind when she shows Aro the vampire future of Bella and Edward. Thumbs up if it was meant to poke fun at the Robsession (something I would not put past the director given the razzing that went on at Comic-Con). Selfishly, I would love to see the post production team pay more attention to small details like making Alice's eyes black when she comes back to Forks. But then again it would only be something for the fans of the book, and would probably fail to add substance to the storyline.

Though this was the most difficult of the four books for me to get through, I thought the movie was much lighter in feeling than Twilight. It was still awful when Edward left, but the general feeling of the movie was not as angsty, and there were so many more laughs which helped to foil the depressing moments. I wonder how I will be able to wait for my trip home to see this again.

Final thoughts are reserved for the event itself: The Nordstrom event was well organized, and since all 14 screens were taken over by New Moon, we somehow ended up in a theater with an older age group. This made a huge difference in keeping the screaming down, which is a big plus.

Monday, November 9, 2009

From Party Planner to Boutique...Builder?

In my work life I have gained a lot of experience planning events like receptions, reunions, and dinners, so sometimes I feel like a professional party planner. This fall I took on something new at the office, and planned the annual holiday boutique.

It turned out to be quite the undertaking. Between recruiting new vendors, balancing product selection, marketing, fielding phone calls and juggling logistics, my head was spinning. This might be why I fell asleep one night in the beginning of October and woke up to find myself in November.

The boutique was this past weekend, on November 6 and 7. All in all, I am somewhat pleased with the end result. I liked that we had a better variety of vendors, including succulent plants, coffee, and soaps. Long-time boutique vendors had nice things to say about the improved variety. Among other things in the future, I would like to draw more people from the surrounding communities rather than just the immediate geographic area.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Day That Dan Was Sick

I admit, I am late to the party with the the Dan Patrick Show, so on November 3, I find myself listening to the show from September 25; but I am so glad that I didn't miss this one. Apparently, Dan got sick on the night of the U2 concert and didn't come in for the next morning's radio show.

In the past, when Dan's been out, the show brings in a guest host to sub. I have never listened to one of those shows. This time, I listened. Show hosts were none other than the Danettes themselves: Paulie, Fritzy, Seton and McLovin'. It was a nice surprise, and I thought the guys did a great job. Even though it's not quite the same without Dan, it was still a funny show. Now that I think about it, the show would lack something without one of the Danettes.

Monday, November 2, 2009

It's November!


I think I went to sleep my one night in the beginning of October, slept a restless, stressful sleep, and awoke to find that it is now November. Everything has been busy, busy, busy.

The good thing about all the busy is that I forgot to be antsy about the release date for New Moon. This weekend, that changed. I caught bits of the trailer during the World Series and some football games, and that brought all the excitement back.

That's when I got fidgety and my mind started buzzing. I started to wonder, "How will see New Moon on November 20? Is it sold out already? Can I really stand all the screaming? Would Seth go with me? Probably not. But then maybe he would. Should I try to go to LA and see it with friends down there? Seth did mention that he would rather pay for me to fly down there than to have to see it with me..." Luckily I happened upon a promo at Nordstrom's Brass Plum.

Basically, you spend some money and you get a pass to a screening on November 19. So, I took care of some early Christmas shopping, and I got two tickets to see New Moon one night early. Somehow I even got Seth to be my plus one.

I think it will be relatively controlled since it is limited by the number of seats they have in the theater. Hopefully it's not too crazy of a night, but I will still be prepared for high-pitched screaming and loads of teenie boppers.