My Baby Shower Didn't Suck!

I am way late in posting this (since my son is sleeping soundly behind me), but I owe many thanks for three incredible ladies who threw me the world's best baby shower.For the record, I am one of those women that generally hates any kind of event with the word "shower" in the title. I associate them with lame food, forced small talk, and awkward games (unfair, I know... showers are changing). Luckily, my shower-planners know this about me and so they put together an event that was a bit different.

First of all, it was Harry Potter themed! And they let me help come up with some of the decorations and activities. The food was incredible, and the whole event was exactly what I wanted-- celebrating my little man in a non-stodgy way with the people I love most.

Here are some of the photos and a few of the touches I most appreciated!

The Food:

That's what its all about, right? Well, we wanted to steer clear of anything that wasn't delicious just so we could stick to the theme. Thus, my brilliant friends got creative. The food table was all about "Herbology Bites," meaning that each dish featured a key herb. We made tags for them explaning the "mystical" uses of each herb.

For instance, said brilliant friend tossed some fresh berries in Hibiscus sugar and the tag said:
Hibiscus- Critical component of love potions 

And it all came out beautifully. 

Drinks:

I am big on lots of drink options, so I asked to be in charge of drinks. We had lots of things on theme! Again, I went for flavor over anything, so my butterbeer was just salted caramel ice cream and cream soda.  People loved it!

Decorations:

My sister had a BLAST with decorating. Check out some of what she put together.

Activities

Some of my favorite elements! Our guests had a blast with our photo  booth....

 The Favors:

One of the other elements I was in charge of. I spent months crocheting scarves in Harry Potter house colors. As they left, our guests donned a sorting hat, pulled a house name out of a jar, and took a scarf for the road.

 And so, as you can see, this was not a traditional shower, but it was the perfect one for me!

A to Z Challenge- My Favorite "D" Character

As I roll along with my list of favorite characters, D was tricky for me. It was inevitable that I would make my way to the Harry Potter world one way or another, but which character I would select was  a tricky proposition.

In honesty, Dumbledore is my favorite of the Harry Potter world personally, but as a writer, I gravitate towards another...

D is for Draco Malfoy

I don't love bad boys, but I am a sucker for an anti-hero. Interestingly, I don't find anything particularly heroic about Draco, but I find him very sympathetic nonetheless because frankly, poor Draco never had much of a chance.

Raised by an evil, bigoted, and bullish father, Draco was always groomed to follow in the family footsteps. What I love about him is his ability to parrot his father in one book and then show true internal turmoil about what is asked of him in another.

Despite his roll as a villain, Draco is actually one of the more complex and interesting characters in the Harry Potter World to me.

My favorite book... Part 2

Most of us bibliophiles have had this moment... we know MONTHS in advance when an author's next title will appear on shelves/Amazon, and we are waiting anxiously to devour it. It is, in fact, one of my favorite book moments... the arrival moment, when you are so excited and full of antcipation. I've had a few great ones in my life-- the seventh Harry Potter novel, Flight by Sherman Alexie, etc. But, one author gives me this chance about once a year, bringing me novels I devour in a day and find delightful, empty bliss within, and that novel is Charlaine Harris, who once a year publishes a new Sookie Stackhouse novel.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, these are the novels on which True Blood (the best show ever) is based. On book #7, I was mystified that I was still reading-- I typically loose interest in a series after 3 or 4 books, but for these delightful, easy reads, I was still hooked on 7 or 8.

Last week, book 11 came in the mail, and I read it in a day. While I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in Harris' vampire world (think Twilight with an NC-17 rating), I am saddened to see my interest waning. Much of the dramatic tension that so pulled me in during the first 8-9 books just feels lacking in this last book (as it was somewhat in book 10). Sookie, or perhaps Harris, just seems to be going through the motions in this last installation, and I am very hopeful that next May a new, exciting book will bring the series back to its initial glory.

Or, eventually, Harris will run out of creative ways to work "Dead" into the title of a book :)

Regardless, the anticipation is still one of my favorite book moments.

Prince Caspian and Fantasy

As I type this, I am watching the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I love, love, love this movie for three reasons:

1. I love the series and I think the movie is a really good representation
2. I love a fantasy world so seamlessly constructed that you feel enterring the real-world again is jarring, and that is exactly how I felt after I saw this movie for the first time
3. I have such a massive movie-star crush on Ben Barnes. I'm for serious. He is so dreamy!

But, the thing this movie also does for me is remind me of how jealous I am of good fantasy writers. I cannot tell a lie... I watch more fantasy movies than I read fantasy books, and it isn't a genre I naturally gravitate towards in either form, but when it is done well, I am green with envy and love, love, lover it!

  

I am in awe of people who effectively create a whole world with new rules, new creatures, and (usually) really complex and sophisticated back stories or political alignments, etc.. For example, I watch the Harry Potter movies frequently, and just watched the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring again on Easter and both movies (and all of the accompanying books) blow me away. To have that kind of imagination, to build something that rich.

 

I've written two novels and dozens of stories. I do not consider myself to be lacking in creativity, but I am astounded and in awe of strong fantasy writers.

 

So, what are the strong fantasy novels you've read/movies you watched. It's a prolific genre for sure, and one that I am suddenly re-inspired to delve into a littl more thoroughly.

An entertaining escape...

My plan for this blog, moving forward, had been to focus on the positive things. Rather than an endless rant to let you into my world and know all about me (because hey, I’m really not that interesting) I have enjoyed sharing my positive juju with the world and planned to keep going with that.

But, in the immortal words of John Lennon “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

And so, beautiful boys (and girls), the time has come when my personal life must encroach upon my creative psyche. I found out a few weeks ago that my mother’s long battle with cancer will be ending soon. We won’t call it a loss, she fought too hard for that. We’re going to call this one a tie. Tie or no tie, nonetheless, this is clearly devastating news. I haven’t been much of a blogger as a result, opting instead to share my feelings with the world through the emerging art of text messaging.

But, ars longa, vitae brevis est. I had a recent affirmation of that, and in my faith in the power of storytelling. I hate to hear people refer to books and movies as “entertainment.” They are this, no doubt; however, I think the stories we tell ourselves and each other become a part of our cultural identity. Just as the Greeks are remembered for (among many other things) the beauty and intricacy of their mythology and epic poems, I think we will be remembered partially for our stories.

This is a scary concept, I know. I really would not want to be a member of the generation remembered for bringing The Hot Chick into our canon. But, that said, I would be proud to be part of the generation that contributed A Prayer for Owen Meany, The United States of Leland, Flight, True Blood, Braveheart and many others.

Here’s why I feel so strongly that movies are crucial: Because whether it is to make a point (like The Life of David Gale, even though I don’t agree with the point), or expose a new facet of our world to those who would not otherwise see it (Slumdog Millionaire) or simply to create a world that will allow us to marvel (bless you Harry Potter), at the end of the day all of these help us to see a world outside of our own little lives.

This weekend I had the unique and delightful opportunity to enter a world that made me forget my own. Honestly, for over a month I have had little else on my mind then my mom. It’s nearly impossible to focus on anything. And so, when I went to the movies on Saturday and sat through the entire film and realized, as I left, that I had been so completely immersed that I had gained two hours of freedom from my own thoughts, I was ecstatic.

The film, ladies and gentlemen, is Inception. The graphics and effects and cool concept will pull you in. Astoundingly good writing coupled with simply flawless acting will keep you there. When I left the theater, it felt odd to find myself simply in a parking lot looking for my car. I had so become part of this world, and been so enthralled by the story that re-entering my life startled me.

I don’t want to go too much into the plot because it is hard to explain without actually seeing it. The whole point is to experience it. Stories are what help us understand, cope, and even escape from our lives. I will be eternally grateful to this filmmaking team for helping me have two marvelous hours on Saturday. This film is what the “entertainment” industry should strive for. This is a film that, I hope, will help to define us not because it makes any bold proclamations or advances any special issues, but because it is an example of how an excellent story can hold you, keep you, and impact you.

And FYI, I am officially adding Joseph Gordon Levitt to the dreamy men list. He can chill with Ben Barnes, Brendan Frasier, Jonathan Brandis, Ryan Buell, and Robert Pattinson there for a while :0)