Twilight, Travel, and Treats

Hi gals,

I'm in Hong Kong right now and there isn't much Twilight related stuff going on. I can't believe I left Vancouver, where they're filming Breaking Dawn, to come here. I hope that when I return to BC in April that they'll still be in town.

Scarlet by Archer24

I really loved this fanfic. Normally I'm a movie buff and I especially like crime/spy/action thrillers. This was right up my alley.

Plot - Bella is the greatest thief the world's never seen; she is only recognized by her scarlet calling card. Edward is FBI, and has been able to catch every criminal he's come across. Little do they know, they are both about to meet their match.

This story is well written. I think it's actually very difficult to write an action sequence well. But this author managed to describe Bella's stealth jewel thieving tactics in a way that is captivating and easy to follow. There are a lot of action scenes involving thieving and fighting but nothing too gruesome. I absolutely loved watching Bella kick ass.

Spoilers - And of course what would a crime action thriller be without a scene where Edward's in a tux and Bella's dressd to the nines doing the tango together.
In the middle of the story it takes an odd turn. It's enough to make you think - really? This is happening? Does this actually make sense and how is this happening so seamlessly? But if you just go with the flow for a chapter it's fine and the story progression seems to make lots of sense and is very entertaining.

Okay, let me know what you think. If any of you have more crime drama fanfics to recommend I'd love to hear about them. I'm feeling a bit addicted to this genre.

So you know how in the movie Julie & Julia the woman bakes her way through Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking? I loved the concept but sadly I suck at cooking.
Her idea inspired me to do something less daunting and more up my alley. My very first fanfiction post in January 2010 was about Wide Awake by AngstGoddess003. It was the first fanfiction I fell in love with. Each chapter is titled after the cookies that Bella bakes for Edward in that part of the story. They're clever titles and I really wanted to see the recipes. From interviews I know AngstGoddess herself is not that much of a baker and I see there are a few recipes on LiveJournal connected to WA but I can't seem to get my hands on them. Hence I decided to create my own list.

These are not my original recipes nor are they linked to AngstGoddess003 in any way. I've compiled this through my usual online recipe search looking for the yummiest sounding cookies! I was thinking it may be fun to do this over a year since there are 52 batches of cookies. Only problem - that's a lot of cookies and I don't know how I'll maintain the skinny bitch figure if I eat all that butter :)

Chapters 1-7

Click title for story link and click Recipe for the cookie recipe link

1. Gingerbread Zombies  Recipe - FoodNetwork

2. Bloody Newtons  Recipe - GroupRecipes

3. Double Fudge Rendezvous Recipe - FoodNetwork UK

Hope you guys have a chance to make any one of these this week. If not at least read each chapter! I'll post some more later!

Hit By Destiny by ocdmess

Well here's another angsty long fanfic worth a read. If you are a fan of Emancipation Proclamation then you'll like this one. It's not for the faint of heart - there's bullying, assault, and just downright scary shit that happens.

Plot - Edward in this story is the epitome of the conceited arrogant teenage asshole. Of course he's a beautiful manwhore to boot. Bella is the quiet isolated girl at school who is constantly bullied. No one knows her story and no one cares. She has secrets that eat her up so badly she wants to die. She's nearly killed when Edward crashes his car into her on a dark night. Will they both be saved from their demons by this fateful accident?

My thoughts...

I enjoyed the authors style of writing and appreciated that the first ten chapters are a lead up before the crash so we know what we're dealing with. The villains aren't the usual suspects and neither are the friends. Edward's character is such an asshole at the beginning it's almost too difficult to read. But I stuck with it knowing that there must be some form of redemption and a love story with it. I wasn't disappointed. If you like reading E get all soft and mushy on B then you'll be happy.
Word to the wise - if you're like me and keep reading to get to a good steamy part you'll be reading for a while. There is a lot of cockblocking in this fanfic but it doesn't feel out of place. If there were more lemons it would be out of character for this Bella.
The title felt obvious to me but I didn't really get the deeper meaning of it until I got to the last two pages. It kept me happy and surprised until the end.
Wishing there were outtakes but you know we can't have everything!
As always I'm adding this to the "Ward of the Day" fanfic rec section on the left sidebar.


It feels like this blog is becoming fanfic based. Good thing I'm heading to Hong Kong in a few days so I can add some travel back in here.

I see that some of you have now been reading Pound of Flesh by jaxon22. Well she has another story that is not as dark but still very good. Sometimes you need light but it's not fluffy.

Help Wanted by Jaxon22

Plot - Bella starts a position as the personal assistant to the arrogant, rude, and distant Hollywood actor Edward Cullen. She gets to find out more about the real man behind the facade. Lemons and love ensue.

As I mentioned this story is lighthearted and swoon worthy. Edward is the ultimate Hollywood jackass with a sordid past. There's a scene early in the story where Bella is reading lines with Edward and they kiss. It's surprisingly hot for just a small kiss. The writing is good and the lemons get much more involved. There are the standard trials and tribulations that Bella has to deal with being in the public eye with Edward. But it's still cute and worth reading.

There are Outtakes showing Edward's POV of Bella's job interview and their important moments. Definitely need to check those out after you're done the main story.

I just got home from seeing Red Riding Hood. Yes, it was an advanced viewing - lucky enough that Lorabell from Confessions of a Twicrack Addict happened to receive free tickets and was kind enough to invite me. I love it when my boring Wednesday evening turns into something exciting and Twilight related.

If you haven't heard Red Riding Hood is the latest film directed by Catherine Hardwicke who directed Twilight. Red Riding Hood was filmed here in Vancouver, B.C. and those reasons were enough for me to want to see it. Not to mention that you know I love Amanda Siegfried from her performance in Mamma Mia (see my post here from summer 2010 - Amanda sings beautifully).



It's tough to review this without giving too many spoilers so be warned. Amanda plays a girl named Valerie who lives in a small town on the edge of a dark forest. A werewolf has been preying on this town for generations and keeps the people in fear of every full moon. The killings had stopped for a while with the townspeople offering their best livestock as sacrifices but somehow it starts again. Valerie is childhood sweethearts with Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). But she ends up in an arranged marriage with a wealthy blacksmith named Henry (Max Irons).



Besides having the Twilight indie feel that I have come to associate with Catherine Hardwicke, this story has hints of Twilight with Valerie being caught between what's good for her and what her heart wants. Billy Burke plays Valerie's father. We had hoped he would make an appearance since the Twilight cast were staying only a block away. But alas I think the idea of press and fans at the end of a workday was too much for him so the Twilight gods weren't with us tonight.



My thoughts? Overall I liked it and I'm glad that I saw it. This movie is visually stunning. Lots of snow and mist. It's B.C. weather at its best. The actors were all pleasant enough to look at as well. The main love interest Peter played by Shiloh Fernandez had an Edward Cullen-ness to him - it was the dark complexion and the hair. Also the black sheep bad boy look helped his appeal.




Lorabell was more fond of Max Iron's character Henry who is the "friend" in the love triangle.


If you're looking for steamy love scenes I'll remind you this movie is rated PG-13. Nothing too risque going on but more than Twilight at least.


I already see that this film has been roasted by critics. You know I'm a fan of Twilight and its sequels and they've all received their fair share of Razzie nominations. So do I really care what critics say? Not when it comes to my 14 year old teenage girl side that somehow didn't come out until I was in my mid thirties.

Let me know what you think when you've seen it. It comes to theatres this Friday.

Hydraulic Level 5 by Gondolier

I'm really an indoor girl. I don't do extreme sports. I live at the bottom of a ski hill and haven't been up it in over 10 years. So you can understand my reluctance to read Hydraulic Level 5 by Gondolier. For all you non water folk the title is a white water rafting reference and the first chapter is set during a rafting trip. I got completely lost with all the terminology and felt icky and wet. It also starts with a story about children named Tony, Isabel, Daisy, and Evan. It left me confused.

But you know what? I acknowledge I was confused because I'm an idiot.

This story is worth the read and it really does NOT revolve around sports. And the story of the little kids is for a memoir Edward is writing so it's super duper sweet.

Plot - Edward and Bella are childhood sweethearts who get married young and then divorce. Edward becomes the celebrity author of the Spoon Creek Vampires series. Bella is in PR and lives in Washington still and it's been 7 years since their breakup. They will need to see each other again for Rosalie and Emmett's wedding. As always it's a story of them fighting it out, lots of sexual tension, and then rekindling their friendship and romance.

This fanfic works for many reasons. It glimpses into the celebrity life a la Robert Pattinson with his crazed fans and paparazzi. It walks you through their childhood anecdotes without boring you. And it has unexpected twists and turns that make your heart wrench but yet seem natural and obvious in hindsight.

It's not heavy on the lemons so I deem it as a mature fic eg. you need to be a grownup to appreciate the story without the sex. You read it for the lovely storyline and powerful message.

Don't forget she has Hydraulic Level 5 Outtakes as well.
Thanks to Lorabell from Confessions of a TwiCrack Addict for convincing me to get past the sports metaphors and plod on.

Rob at 100 Monkeys Vancouver 2009


I figured if they were going to come out of hiding for anything it might be to this show. Totally worth the $20 for the chance.
I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that I don't go to clubs anymore. I've got a busy job, 2 kids, and soccer mom duties on my days off. But this is Twilight related stuff so I had to push my boundaries.

My sister and her husband were kind enough to accompany me. She was the original one to introduce me to Twilight and I think she's still a fan but not a total nutjob like I am.

The opening band didn't look old enough to be in the club with us.

I was disappointed when they announced that Jackson was filming all day 90 minutes outside Vancouver and wouldn't be playing until they moved to another venue down the street in 2 hours.



100 Monkeys sans Jackson was still enjoyable.

 At 10pm we had to move everyone in the rain down the street three blocks and wait outside again to a sports bar. It was bizarre seeing this sports bar packed with women.

The opening band played again at midnight. There were so many people trying to peep through the door in the kitchen to where the Monkeys were waiting that it became a show just watching the paparazzi.

Yes, by this time they STILL hadn't come on the stage.

Eventually at 1am the 100 Monkeys with Jackson finally came on stage. By this time I'd waited for 6 hours to see him!

This is how far away we were. I'm short so I trade a clear view to proximity.

We had been standing in the same spot keeping our place for almost 2 hours. At least I was only wearing kitten heels but I was silently cursing Twired Jen hoping that Jackson would be worth it.

He was worth the wait.

These are some videos my sister took. I love that her camera takes HD video. The screencaps are better than my pictures!