My Fandoms: Harry Potter

While getting ready for Emerald City Comic Con, I started thinking of all the fandoms I'm apart of. so I'm going to do this series about each fandom I belong to. These are in no particular order.

Harry Potter

I've read all the book, seen the movies, dressed up as HP characters for Halloween and various other events. I have tons of Harry Potter stuff.

I enjoy the characters, the story. I like the character development. The story is very rereadable. The movies are a lots of fun and a pretty good.

Top Ten Tuesday: Movies I Can Always Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Love Actually

My favorite holiday themed movie. I can watch this over and over again.

The Incredibles

If I don't feel good, this movie is on. No sick day is complete without it.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Always  guaranteed to put a smile on my face.

Romeo + Juliet

My favorite adaptation.

Sense & Sensibility

So much to love about this one.

Much Ado About Nothing

Again, plenty to love here too. A lot of my favorite actors and my favorite director.

Deadpool

I'm a pretty big Deadpool fan and a big Ryan Reynolds fan. 

America's Sweethearts

This one always makes me laugh.

Gross Point Blank

I love dark humor and John Cusack.

Inside Out

This one always makes me cry.

Twelve Goals for 2015

I stopped making resolutions a long time ago. It was always the same thing-lose weight and get out of debt. The getting out of debt part is done (whew!) and I'm working on the losing weight (30 lbs down). But I want to set some goals for the year. Give me something to work on.

These are my non-bookish goals. My bookish ones can be found here.

1. Make one meatless dinner a week. We are carnivores. We eat a lot of meat. But eating vegetarian one night a week would help the budget and add variety to our diet.

2. Continue working on my fitness and lose another 30 lbs. I'm having fun making my gym routine something to look forward to. I stick to things that are fun to me and I listen to an audiobook while working out. I've signed up at a yoga studio so I'm looking forward to adding yoga back to my routine.

3. Go back to meal planning.  I fell off the meal planning wagon late last year. It was really helpful budget-wise. I've got to start again.

4. Schedule one do nothing, stay home weekend a month. Sometimes we get so busy where we are out both Saturday and Sunday. Nothing gets done at home. And when that happens 3 weekends in a row, the house becomes a disaster.

5. Plan one trip with Tai this year. We talk about going somewhere for a long weekend but never follow through. Even if it's a day trip, we should plan something.

6. Get a will and other necessary estate planning documents done. I work in the aging field and know what happens when people don't plan what they want to do when they are incapacitated. I hope we won't need these documents for a long time but I want to start the conversation.

7. Clean and declutter one room a month. That would be our living room, our bedroom, our spare bedroom (ie my getting ready room), the downstairs hall closet, the upstairs hall closet, the pantry, and the kitchen. I'll even offer to help my dad with his bedroom and office.

8. Do one thing for myself a month. Get a hair cut, a massage, hang out at the spa. Sometimes months go by without me doing anything for myself.

9. Watch older movie (pre-2014) a month. I'm great a going to the movies in theaters but suck at watching older movies at home. Plus it would be something to do on those do nothing weekends. Three movies to start with: Blade Runner, 2001, and Akira.

10. Learn to make 5 Japanese dishes. I keep wanting to learn to make more Japanese food. I even have a cookbook. I just need to start doing it. And I should post about them. You all want to know about my adventures in Japanese cooking, right?

11. Stop complaining and start sharing my gratitude. I have a tendency to bitch about life's inconveniences. I have a lot to be thankful for-a wonderful, loving partner, good friends, a safe place to live, and enough money for the necessities and sometimes the luxuries.

12. Take 2 cooking classes-one skill building (like a knife class) and one food related (like a Thai class or a tamale making class). I've taken cooking classes before and I enjoy doing it. I'd like to improve my kitchen skills and learn to make new dishes.

Every month I'll post my progress on these goals.

Do you have any goals this year?

Brought To You by The Letter W

I've seen several bloggers doing this letter meme so when Trish did and offered to hand out letters, I decided to join in. She gave me W.

Favorite book with the letter W: Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Such a fantastic book. I need to reread it.


Favorite author with the letter W: It's a tie with Brian Wood

and Jennifer Wiener

Favorite song with the letter W: I have 2:



Favorite film with the letter W: Wall-E

Such an adorable movie.

Favorite object with the letter W: Wallet? Cause that's where I store my cash?

If you want to join in, let me know and I'll give you a letter too.

Autumn Meme

I spotted this meme on Lit and Life and thought it would be fun.

What is your favorite thing about autumn? The cool, crisp days. The changing of the weather. I wish our leaves changed more dramatically like in the above picture. 

What book reminds you of school? No specific book reminds me of school. But autumn does make me feel like starting school.

What is one of your favorite autumn-related book covers?

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

The cover looks very fallish and a little spooky.

What is your favorite horror or Halloween story? It's a tie between Misery by Stephen King and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

What are some of your favorite horror films? I'm a big wuss when it comes to horror movies. But I loved Cabin In The Woods. 

What is a book release you're looking forward to this autumn? Allegiant by Veronica Roth

What is a film release you're looking forward to this autumn? Thor and Catching Fire.

What are three books you want to read this autumn? Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. 

Music Makes The Movie

Over the weekend we were playing Rock Band and I sang Under Pressure. Later I was telling Tai that Under Pressure always reminds me of Grosse Pointe Blank.

 It got me thinking what other songs remind me movies? Like Bohemian Rhapsody from Wayne's World (yes, I have a thing for Queen).

Or Don't You Forget About Me from The Breakfast Club:

or Lust For Life from Trainspotting:

Or Tiny Dancer from Almost Famous:

Or Benny & The Jets from 27 Dresses (I actually learned the lyrics after seeing this movie):

What are your favorite movie songs?

Movie Meme

Cause I feel the need to post but can't think of something to post, here's my movie meme.

Movie That Always Makes Me Cry-The Last Unicorn

When I hear the song, I get teary eyed.

Movie That Reminds Me Of My Childhood-The Fox And The Hound

I adored this movie when I was a kid. I watched it everytime it was on tv. Then when it was released on VHS I asked my parents to buy it for me and I watched it some more.

Movie That Makes Me Laugh Out Loud Every time-European Vacation
 
I love Chevy Chase. I choose this scene because of Eric Idle. "It's just a flesh wound!"

Movie I Can Recite All The Worlds To-Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves

I've probably seen this movie over 1000 times. I was in love with Kevin Costner (despite his terrible accent) back then. Plus Christian Slater, so dreamy back then.

Favorite Disney Movie- Beauty & The Beast

I heard this is going to be re-released this year to the theaters.

Movie I Want To See-Valentine's Day

Would you look at that cast? Who isn't in this movie? I'll be getting the girls together for this one.

Scaredy Cat Goes To A Horror Movie

I'm a scaredy cat. I don't go to scary movies period. Tai loves scary movies. When he heard about Paranormal Activity, he asked me to go. I've been watching some scary movies (The Thing, Alien) at home, with the lights on. I've been getting better about them. But Paranormal Activity was showing at midnight. Since Tai really wanted to go, I decided to try it (this should earn me major brownie points).
Here's the trailer:

Holy fucking shit (excuse my language)! This movie was so scary. The movie was almost sold out. The crowd was prepared to be scared and got into the movie. They were screaming and some of their reactions made the movie better.  I did have to hide a few times; I missed the last 5 minutes of the movie because I was too scared to look at the screen.But I know what happened since Tai filled me in.
This movie is similar to Blair Witch since it's a mockumentary although I did forget that towards the end. But it's mostly steadycam rather than someone running through the forest carrying a camera. So you won't feel sick from the motion of the camera.
If you like scary movies and Paranormal Activity is playing in your area (it's not achieved wide release yet) check it out.

Weekly Geek #14

This week's task was sent in by Maree of Just Add Books, who's been thinking about those things that we do when we're not reading or blogging. Here's what Maree has to say:

The comments on this post of mine got me thinking about guilty pleasures. Non-reading guilty pleasures.

Mine at the time the post was written was American Idol. Particularly one contestant, as you can see. By now, the show is over, and the results are in, one way or another. But my inappropriate addiction to Idol got me thinking about the things we do that we love but that we don't like to admit to--our guilty pleasures. Mine is reality TV, which scratches that small, dark place that we all have.

So. Weekly Geeks, we're going into the confessional this week.

What's your non-reading guilty pleasure?
Trashy TV?
Trashier movies?
Junk food?

Well Tai would say my guilty pleasure is bad movies. At least bad to him. I love cheesy action flicks (like anything with Jason Statham) and teen movies (my favorite being Can't Hardly Wait). I could watch Bring It On, She's All That, and Mean Girls over and over again. Or an action flick marathon would also keep me happy. Put on the Transporter series and the third Blade movie and I will sit happily in front of the tv for hours!
But I would say my guilt pleasure is junk food. I love candy, carmel corn, ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, and fast food. I'm trying to limit all that but I could eat it all day!
What about you? What your guilty pleasure?

Currently....

readingI read about this book somewhere (I really should remember these things). It's a collection of short stories about women doing things out of the ordinary for them. Some of them are outrageous, some are so heart breaking. I highly recommend this book.


eating
I bought some Girl Scouts from 2 adorable little brownies at the grocery store. It's definitely my favorite time of year.

watching
I was pretty stoked when I heard Watchmen was being made into a movie. I was not disappointed.

Friday Truths

*If you want something specific, we do not have it in the house.
*What we do have is nothing you want.
*When finding the most perfect recipe, I will undoubtedly not have one key ingredient.
*When I buy that one key special ingredient I will never have another use for the vat of product I had to buy.
*Encore shows the same 6 movies on a loop all day.
*Movies with good trailers are rarely good movies.
*If I want to see a movie, it will be gone from the theater by the time I get there.
*The shirt I want to wear is always dirty.
*Tai runs out of socks despite me buying more. I think he hides them.

*If I go to the store to buy pants, I'll come home with shirts. The reverse works too.
*The yummy candy disappears before I have a chance to enjoy them.
*Fridays never come quickly enough. Sunday night is here before I know it.

Have a great weekend!

Blockbuster vs Netflix

Before I met Tai I had Netflix I enjoyed the convenience of Netflix. I could choose movies online and they'd appear at my house. I'd keep them as long as I liked and when I returned them a new movie would come in its place. It was a lovely system.
In those first few months of dating Tai I put my movies on a shelf and kind of forgot about them. Then one day Tai said, let's go rent a movie. I explained to him the lovely convenience of Netflix and showed him the 3 movies that had been collecting dust for the past few months. He looked at them and said "I don't want to watch these. Let's go to the video rental place."
Now, I'm sure you've experienced the horror of wandering through a video rental place with another person. Let's be honest it doesn't matter if it's your boyfriend or your friend it's not always easy to decided on a movie. Well Tai and I did this a few times. It was a hit or miss solution. Often we couldn't decide on something or they didn't have what we wanted.
Tai couldn't get into the Netflix experience. Choosing movies online seemed odd to him. He did used to work in a video store so some habits die hard.
Around this time Blockbuster announced their online movie deal. It was similar to Netflix but you could rent movies in the store as well. This was the perfect solution to our problem. We switched to Blockbuster. We get 3 movies from our online queue and return them at the store for 3 movies there at no additional cost. It really works well for us. I couldn't be happier with Blockbuster. Plus it's totally convienent since there is a Blockbuster down the street from our place.
So we still go to the store which Tai enjoys. He likes to interact with the staff and see how our choices rate. And there is less wandering around now. We know movies we want to see since we know what's in our queue. Plus there seems to be more movies to choose from now. Probably because more people are using the online options.
What about you? How do you get your movie fix?

Bride Wars

Kris, Ashley, Marta and I went to see Bride Wars over the weekend. It was ok, it had some good parts to it. But it seemed to lack clear definition. At one point they mention that Liv's folks passed early in her life. But no one really talks about it. All the mean stuff that the girls do gets a little much.
A lot of the things that Candice Bergen's character said pissed me off. At one point she says that you are dead before you get married. Also they girls plan their weddings at the Plaza in 3 months. Plus they sent out Save the Dates! If you hadn't planned a wedding then you wouldn't know that doesn't seem possible.
There was plenty of bridal porn so it's a good afternoon movie to see with your friends.

Edited to note: The relationship between the 2 girls was skewed to be begin with. Emma (Hathaway) decides to stick up for herself and things get a little out of control. Remember when you were younger and your BFF made you mad? You did some not so nice things to make yourself feel better? Also both of them befriend some not so nice folks who make things worse. There is a big happy ending of course. The whole movie is more about the 2 girls friendship rather than their wedding, IMO. Anyway, it made me feel better about my current friendships.

Currently....

using
As an early holiday gift Tai bought me this heated mattress pad. I tend to get cold and I like to have the heat on but Tai likes it to be a little cold at night. This mattress pad has dual controls so I can be warm and Tai can stay chilly.

buying
I'm not a fan of white wine. I prefer red so I never white on hand when I'm making a dish. So I found these as a perfect solution. I don't have to waste an entire bottle on a 1/4 of cup.

watching

We watched this last night. One of the best graphic novel movies I've ever seen. It felt like a comic book. We were able to rent in blu-ray since we now have a PS3. Such a gorgeous picture! I want to be Angelia Jolie. She's superbad ass in this movie.

wantingI saw these in the LL Bean catalog. I definitely think they'd come in handy during the icy season. Might help me not fall. Anyone have these?

Currently....

wanting
Right now, when I'm cooking dinner, I have to walk over to my computer to see what to do next. It's not too bad but when I'm up to my elbows in dough or have greasy hands the last thing I want to do is touch my computer. This little device holds 2500 recipes and has a user friendly (iPhone type) interface. I would add one to my wish list but it's a little pricy for a one trick pony.

watchingOk, I was so looking forward to Twilight. I'm addicted to the books. I loved Twilight the book. Twilight the movie was terrible. I laughed through most of the movie and it wasn't a comedy. I didn't think I was going to the girl playing Bella but she was the best part. I almost walked out when the actor playing Jacob walked on. Not what I had envisioned at all! Most of the movie was like that. I cannot recommend this movie unless you are in love with the actor playing Edward. I would say wait for DVD.

listening
I've been listening to Pandora for a while now. I love it since it learns what songs I like and which I don't. Tai wasn't a fan at first. But now he listens to his own station too. I recently discovered that I could link it to my facebook page. Double score!

trying
In an attempt to make cheesy foods that Tai can eat I've been trying goat cheese specially goat mozzerella. It's a little gamey on it's own but delicious shredded into a pasta. I also bought goat cheddar which also worked. Look for recipes with these cheeses in them soon.

Movie Weekend

Over the weekend I went to see two very different movies. On Saturday, I saw Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist with Marta. It was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing. We decided it was the only movie playing at that time that we wanted to see. From wikipedia

Ok, he's adorable. Not in like a conventional way. Like your friend's younger brother way. Anyway, he's slowly becoming my new favorite young actor. From Starpulse.com

I dig Kat Dennings look. For some reason I think she'd make a good vampire.
It was a good movie. One thing that bothered me through the whole movie was that it was like 3am and these kids were running around New York. And no phone calls from their folks. At 3am I was at home when I was a kid. I knew kids running around at that time as well. But there were no cell phones back then. Not one of these kids got a call from their parents wondering where the hell they were. But I guess that's the movies.
Sunday I saw W with Ashley, Shoshana, and Ethan. Wow, Josh Brolin looks like GW. I was looking forward to this movie. I love Oliver Stone's other films (JFK, Any Given Sunday) so I was looking forward to seeing how he portrayed GW. But I was kind disappointed. I preferred the look at the younger GW than the Iraq War Bush. Stone seemed very sympathic to GW. I can see how you would if you spent enough time reading about his history. It was kind of long and a little boring at times. But the actors were excellent and worth watching.
See any movies this weekend?

Currently....

watching

I've seen this movie twice. I love ABBA so I was dancing in my seat. It's incredibly cheesy but I don't really care. It's a fun silly story. But now I have ABBA songs running through my mind all day. Pierce Brosnan should not be singing though. He was the worst part for me. I still can't wait to buy it so I can watch it again!

reading
I loved Good In Bed. I was less impressed with her other novels. I was excited to see a continuation of Cannie's story. But I have to say still not that impressed. I'm about half way done but I'm not loving it. Perhaps it's because the chapters switch between Cannie and her daughter, Joy. I don't know. I see a predictable end but I'm not racing to get to it. It's more like I know this will all work out so why the hell are you people freaking now? Sigh. Perhaps I'll change my mind.

using
My old coworker used to work at Sephora part time. He'd bring us his freebies he didn't want. I snatched this during one of his giveaways. I perfer to wash my hair at night. But since my hair is oily I don't put conditioner in it. With this, I put a little in the morning and it makes my hair so glossy and so silky. I love it.

loving
I got this electric knife as a shower gift from Ashley. I've always wanted one especially after Alton had one. It cuts bread so incredibly fast! It's so easy to use. I don't know how I lived without one!

Learn More About Us

Since I'm going to be talking more about us and not our wedding, I thought I would tell you more about Tai and I.

First a little more about my hubby, Tai. Tai moved here about 5 years ago from Los Angeles. A lot of times people ask me if he moved here for me. Honestly we didn't meet til after he lived here. Tai's one of five and almost all of his siblings still live in Los Angeles area. Tai loves to game. He plays several online games. Not WoW. I won't let him, too expensive and takes up too much time. But he plays lots of online free ones. He also plays D&D with some friends he's found. But he's always up for a good board game which I love since my folks hated board games when I was a kid. Tai loves to read. Usually we don't read the same thing but sometimes we will. He likes scifi a lot more than I do. But we both love graphic novels and read tons of them(Y:The Last Man is one of our favorites).

Tai is a fount of movie knowledge. He's tons of movies, blockbusters and the obscure ones too. His favorite are horror movies. The ones where lots of people die. And zombie movies. He has to wait til I go to sleep because I hate scary movies. I'm such a wimp!

More about me. I was born and raised here in the Seattle area which is pretty rare. I did go to college in Ohio but came home after college. I have a special place in my heart for Ohio and Pittsburgh since I spent a lot of time there. I really do like to cook. And I love to eat. I'm hard pressed to think of things I don't like. It's a short list-calamari and anchovies. I'll be doing some restaurant reviews in the coming months.

I love movies, but I tend to like romantic comedies, dramas, and the occasional documentaries. I see everything-new, old, classics and those campy ones too. Our DVD collection is growing to prove it! I read a lot too. Mostly fiction and hardly ever non-fiction except a good memoir or biography. I'm currently reading Certain Girls by Jennifer Wiener. I'm not digging it too much. I was a huge fan of Good In Bed and nothing has come close to that. I'm always looking for a good book recommendation so feel free to let me know if you have one.

Our tiny one bedroom is loaded with all our crap. The kitchen is full of appliances and kitchen gadgets. We have 4 computers which we spend a lot time on. We'd love to have pets but with so little space don't don't feel right having a dog. I keeping thinking a cat but again I want to wait for more space.

Now I feel like I'm rambling. Let me know if you have a question and I'll be happy to try to answer it.

Currently....

eatingOne day, Tai told me to pick up "snacks" at Costco. I found these lovely treats. We love them! We ate the first bag pretty quickly. I don't go to Costco very often but I do now. I buy them 2 bags at a time. They are the perfect snack.

usingWe got these a lovely pillows as a shower gift from Kris and Cindy. They are so comfortable. Even Tai the pillow snob loves them. So comfortable. I highly recommend them!

watching

We saw this opening weekend. Awesome. I love comic book movies. I love Robert Downey Jr. I cannot wait for a sequel.

readingI love Jodi Picoult. This one was very gripping. I didn't want to put it down. Very thought-provoking. I guarantee this one will have you talking.

Currently....

wearing
I bought these Hanes no panty line bikinis the other day at Target on a whim. These are so comfortable. No binding and no panty line! I highly recommend them.
eating

Yesterday we had a little party for a coworker who is also getting married. The cake came from Central Market. This cake was yummy. I even bought a slice home for Tai who agreed it was yummy. Might have to rethink dessert at the wedding. And the Bettercreme frosting is made from soy, not butter, but you would never know!
watching
I had wanted to see this when it was in the theaters. But we never did and I forgot about it. The other day when we were at Blockbuster, Tai remembered that I wanted to see it and we rented it. Wow, this movie makes no sense! You spend a good portion of the movie wondering what the hell is going on. The movie seems to start in the middle. But the dialogue is hysterical and the action scenes are perfect. Wonderfully mindless entertainment. Plus hunky Clive Owen-drool!
drinking
As part of our huge Jones soda stash we bought 6 cases of Lemon Lime soda for ourselves. We'd never tried the lemon lime flavor, but wow. It's yummy. We love it! We only wish would would have bought more then.