Butterbeer, Pumpkin Pasties and Knickerbocker Glory!

It all started a couple days ago when Courtney said she was bummed she had to wait 

until her box set arrived in December before she could watch the last movie on DVD.

I told her we were getting it and she could come over.

Then there was talk of Butterbeer and the next thing you know, 

we're having a Harry Potter party.

See that wand?

That's Severus Snape's wand and it's pretty awesome.

Courtney got it as a gift this past week,

directly from Ollivander's Wand Shop.

If you aren't aware, that;s in Orlando at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I want to go!

Anyway, the wand really has a weight to it, I was really impressed.

Can I just say that the Butterbeer was delicious?

We used this recipe and it was just what we pictured it to be like!

The nice beer-like foam you see in the first photos is because there was a bit of whipped cream

in the glass when we refilled it.  So theres your trick to make the perfect butterbeer.

I also made this artichoke bread (and did not get a picture) and it was a hit.

I found that I would have liked a bit more filling to get it to look like the picture.

Tons of possibilities for that appetizer.  Try it.

Courtney went to the library and picked up the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

for some recipes.

The book is pretty awesome with some serious recipes like salmon and steak and kidney pie.

The dessert section looks fantastic.

My only complaint is that there aren't any pictures.  

I may have to get the book and recreate some dishes.

Courtney's Pumpkin Pasties are incredible.

They have all the elements of a pumpkin pie and you just can't go wrong with that.

Did you notice the lightning bolts on top?

I love details like that.

Anyway, I'm having a pumpkin pastie with tea for breakfast.

If only it were off the trolley on the Hogwarts Express.

At the end of the movie we wrapped it up with Knickerbocker Glory!

It's layers of vanilla bean ice cream, jello, raspberries, blueberries, 

homemade custard, and freshly whipped cream.

I loved all of it.

Why don't I eat jello more often?  I love jello.

We had a really great time and I only cried a minimal amount.

That movie really gets me.

I know, we're nerds.

Any Harry Potter fans out there?

Welcome to Hobbiton

Now B and I have both, at some time in our lives, read the Lord of the Rings books. We were aware that they were filmed in New Zealand and were curious about the sets. We were fans of the movie but weren't fanatics. (at that point anyway)

But Mimirickets sent me all the information for the Hobbiton tours and then later on told me that I had to go see it. She is a smart woman so I adjusted our activities and booked a tour.



The driver Ben picked us up in Rotorua and drove us the 45 minutes to Matamata. Ben was a wonderful tour guide on the way to the Shire's Rest Cafe (how cute is that!) as he knew the history of every place we passed.

Ben was also an extra in the Lord of the Rings. He played an orc in the battle at Helm's Deep. I thought that was pretty darn cool.



Hobbiton resides on the Alexander farms. When they approached Mr. Alexander to ask him if they could tour the farm he sent them away because rugby was on TV.

Weeks later, after they had toured and approved the location, they told him they wanted to film Lord of the Rings there. His response was "Lord of the what?". The man had no idea what he was in for.



This is Eric our guide. He really liked us and he gave us the special treatment.

He would send the group to the next stop and then take my hand and say "Stay here, I'm going to do something special just for you". Eric was the one who took pictures of B and I throughout this post. Lovely man.



The pictures don't do this place justice. It really did feel like you were in a different world.

New Zealand is very aware of preserving their landscapes and most of the LOTR sets were completely dismantled. In this case as they were taking down Hobbiton there was a week long storm that came thru halting the process.

During that time locals kept calling the Alexanders to see if they were able to catch of glimpse of Hobbiton. And the Hobbiton Tours were created.

Actually we saw Craig Alexander drive by on his little 4 wd gator-type vehicle with his daughter and their dog. He waved as he passed us. Just another day on the farm, with Hobbiton, tourists, 300 cattle and 13,000 sheep.



What's that you see? OK all you Lord of the Rings nerds.... here is your sneak peak.

If you look closely at those boards you'll see they have sketched out hobbit holes and windows. They are starting to place around for the making (and re-making) of the set for the upcoming film The Hobbit. Filming starts in June and the book will be broken into 2 movies.

Do you recognize this tree? It was the great tree that Bilbo Baggins stood in front of for his birthday speech. It was right here that he slipped the ring on his finger.

Apparently he wasn't the only person slipping a ring on here. There have been quite a few proposals near both this tree and in Bag End (his house).



Peter Jackson had been a long time fan of the books and went to incredible lengths to recreate the exact vision portrayed in Tolkien's books.

Everything had to be authentic to the world that had been created.

Did I thank you Mimirickets? I completely and totally enjoyed this little tour. Oh and it was here that I got to feed the leetle lambs.



Peter Jackson brought in 2 amazing artists who had both illustrated the LOTR books and had them sketch out the town using the landscape on the Alexander farm.



This is the before and the after, or actually the after and the before. I think its incredible that this space held that little town.

For those of you who are unaware of the cult following these books and movies have... let me just say that its the reason some people travel to New Zealand.

They come from all over the world, they speak elvish, they come dressed in costume, they have the books memorized. Its a big deal.

BREAKING NEWS: Recession hits Hobbiton!

The hobbit houses were really only built to last 6 months. They've been trying to maintain them but this is what they would look like otherwise.

In any matter, they'll all be brought to life again for the new movie. Since I've now been converted to a full Lord of the Rings nerd I will willingly admit I would LOVE to go back to see it after the set has been resurrected.



Look we're hobbits!

Tolkien was a genius. The man not only created a world with its own detailed history, he created 16 different languages. There is a lot of detail in his work, so much detail it mkes my head spin.

If you are a fan and know some of my tidbits to be wrong... let me know so I can fix it!



This would be the view from one of Bilbo's windows.

With the exception of Bag End all of the hobbit holes are about 1 foot deep. You'll notice that in the movie you'll see hobbits opening the door and just stepping inside. The rest of the shot was done in a studio.



I got the biggest kick out of being inside. I could totally picture the little rooms around me. I could imagine sitting in them with the smell of food in the air. I could see the garden out front.

I want to live in the Shire. Really, I do. I totally want to live the life of a Hobbit, what with all the meals they have in a day.

Unless I have the option to live in Rivendell. That's a tough call.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."



This is the view from where Bilbo and Gandalf sat and smoked their pipes. Its a wonderfully peaceful and content moment in the movie.

The clearing down there is where the festivities of Bilbo's 111th birthday commenced.



Here is a perfect example of commitment to detail Peter Jackson made.

In the book there is a very large oak tree on top of Bag End. Unfortunately there was not a very large oak tree on this particular hill. So, they searched out a nearby oak tree and paid the farmer who owned it $11,000. They cut it into pieces, numbering as they went, transported it back here and reassembled it.



By then the tree was dead so they ordered 275,000 oak leaves from Taiwan and attached them to the limbs of the tree.....one by one.

Jackson didn't want to create the computer generate the tree because it wouldn't cast a shadow and the leaves wouldn't flutter just right.

If you watch carefully you'll see the tree in the movie. For about 15 seconds.



As we walked Eric told us more and more amazing details about the movie. It took roughly $400 million to make and the movies in theatres alone have brought in over $4 billion.

There are many countries that place the movies in theaters every Christmas.

I have no idea what the numbers are when you take into consideration the DVD sales and LOTR products.



The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.



Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,



Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

On the Verge

Do you ever start a story/post and know its going to be all over the place? Well, you've been warned!

I'm standing on the edge, on the verge of doing something. On the verge of doing so many things. I have an anxious, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, slightly spastic, and expectant feeling in my stomach. This year is going to be an amazing one. I can feel it in every cell of my body. There are so many things on my list of goals I don't even know where to start. I have to constantly remind myself to take a breath.

I suppose all this is incredibly normal. I'm months away from my wedding with 2,971 things left on my to do list and I've just turned 30. The blogging just fuels the fire. Lets face it, writing a personal blog requires you looking at your life on a daily basis. That alone was the reason I started it. It makes me think about the things I love, the things I want, the things I need and the things I already have.

I've been charting my goals on a neatly formatted excel spreadsheet. Don't even start to think that means I'm organized. I am selectively organized. I have stacks of papers tucked everywhere. That will go on a list of things to do... purge papers. I have a spreadsheet for those things to. I'm neurotic. Do you feel the urge to run away?

Julie & Julia Trailer from RealTVfilms on Vimeo.

On a different note (or maybe it isn't different at all) I took my mom to see Julie/Julia on her birthday (which was yesterday, Happy Birthday Mom!). I really liked it. I related to Julia but so vividly to Julie. She is working an office job she doesn't like, looking for a creative outlet and finds something amazing in herself that transforms her life. It reminded me that it is always a good time to commit myself to learning something new.

I also saw so much of those husbands in B. He thinks I can do anything. Its a bit ridiculous actually. I could get up tomorrow and say "B, I'm going to be a concert pianist" and he would say "You will be the best concert pianist ever". But don't we need that in our lives?

On a side note... I would've watched this movie just to soak in the dresses, the shoes, the skirts and blouses of the Julia scenes. I love the styles of these times. This alone is the reason I just put Mad Men into my netflix. I want to soak in the style and try and reproduce it. I may start baking in heels and a frill apron. Hmmm, I need to get a frilly apron.

One last comment on the movie. It covers blogging. Its hard to explain the drive behind doing it or even what it is to people who have never been exposed to it. Why do we put our thoughts onto these blogs and send them out into the great interwebs? How do you explain blogging to people who have no idea what it is? I think its kind of funny because blogging has been around for years and I've only just gotten into it. But its still so new to so many.

I imagine the blog/book/movie of Julie/Julia is so popular because so many of us can relate to the characters. Have you seen the movie?

'Ello and other Labyrinth nonsense..

First off this post is total nonsense. But since 95% of my posts are, I know you'll forgive me. I've recently been reunited with a dear friend. We share a love for an award-winning, highly nominated movie that will go down in history as a classic.

Except for the award-winning, nominated and classic part. Although, it does involve both David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly?! Oh and Jim Henson and George Lucas! That has to count for something.

Jennifer Connelly plays an overly dramatic teenager who wishes her baby brother away to the Goblin kingdom and then of course, changes her mind. Sarah has 13 hours to make it through the Labyrinth to save her brother from becoming a goblin. You can already tell its a classic.

I love the characters she meets. This is The Worm. He has like 2 minutes of fame but he is one of my favorites.And this is Hoggle. Gotta love grumpy Hoggle. But I have another reason for pointing him out.

Because although David Bowie's presence and fantastic music are one of the reasons I love this movie so much... he is also the cause of the only cringe-worthy scene.


Who decided to put a man in thin grey spandex pants for a kids movie?! Granted, kids probably wouldn't notice "it".

But there is a particular scene in which Jareth (David Bowie) is talking to Hoggle who happens to be waist high. I remember when we got older and ~gasp~ noticed the wenis shot right there in our innocent movie. Yes, I said wenis.


It still makes me giggle. How mature am I?

Other than that short but unfortunate oversight it is a fantastic 80's movie. Has anyone seen it? Anyone?

Sorry I couldn't find a clearer trailer... You'll just have to watch it yourself. Or perhaps play it for your kids :)

The Time Traveler's Wife

First off, I will be posting the final installment of the diagnosis by approximately 8:24pm Friday night. I've been meaning to but the week has been full because I had to attend another fancy dinner (Dine for the Cure) and I needed to sort through my mounds of pictures from high school and I have to go see Harry Potter tonight. It cannot be helped. Sometimes the tedious tasks of my life get in the way of my priorities.


Speaking of Harry Potter... another book I loved, The Time Traveler's Wife, has been made into a movie that will come out next month.

The story is about the love and life between Clare the beautiful artist and Henry the handsome librarian. The difference between this story and the many other love stories out there? Henry is a time traveler. He has a "Chrono-Impairment" which whisks him away from the present time without a moments notice. He doesn't know where or when he will end up. Mostly he travels to his past and sometimes to his future always wondering what situations he will find himself in. He leads his life out of order but always, always gets pulled back to Clare.

When Clare and Henry first meet she is 6 years old and he is 36. What do you do when you meet the love of your life at only 6 years old? What kind of life do you live when your husband could disappear in the middle of dinner and not return for days? How do you know he is safe? Will he return to you?

Theirs is a love that truly trancends time.

It was author Audrey Niffineger's debut novel and I will definitely be reading more of her books. Did you read it? Let me know what you thought.

And here is the trailer for The Time Travelers Wife

Who wants to see it with me?