Twilight, Travel, and Treats

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.

A Pound of Flesh by Jaxon 22

So I'd put off reading this one for a while. Don't ask me why since it's won a shitload of awards. Maybe I was a bit put off by the title (the imagery of an actual pound of flesh in my profession is as real as it gets) even though I know it's in reference to The Merchant of Venice. Or maybe I didn't think I'd like the whole prison love story thing. Edward is an inmate and Bella is his tutor in prison. Turns out Edward knows her from the past. They're both angsty and stubborn - some very hot arguments ensue.

Well, I'm very glad I finally decided to give in and read it. This story has won awards for good reason. It's a serious one but moves at a good pace. The foreplay is intense and once you finally reach the lemons they are hot. Be in for the long burn. It's not complete but I'm still satisfied. For all you English lit buffs out there I think you'll like it. I remember reading The Merchant of Venice in school and if I have to relive it I'm glad it's with PunkAssWard. This story has also inspired me to pull out all the pencil skirts and blouses again. Don't ask me why since I'm not supposed to be sexy in front of patients but the urge to become as sexy as Tutorella is hard to suppress.

I wanted to thank the author Jaxon22 as well. You know how sometimes you read a fic and even the inspirational quote at the top is already poignant? Yeah this is how her writing is. Without even starting to write she's already chosen words to get me thinking. I actually let the quote sink in for a while before starting each chapter and think "well fuck me but that's brilliant."

By the way isn't that banner beautiful? It was nominated for an award as well. It's so steamy I may have to figure out a way to put it on my iPhone without the kids seeing...

In case you wanted to know, here's the list of awards this fanfic has won

'Best Written FF of the Year so Far' at the Twilight All Human Awards. Sept '10.
'Most Original Story' at The Hidden Star Awards. Sept '10.
'Best Lemon' at The Sparkleteer Awards. Dec '10
'Best Plot' at The Sparkleteer Awards. Dec '10
'Most Seductive Tease' at The Sparkleteer Awards. Dec '10.
'Best Worth the Wait Lemon' at The Golden Lemon Awards. Feb '11.
'Most re-read Lemon' at The Golden Lemon Awards. Feb '11.
'Best Make-Out' at The Golden Lemon Awards. Feb '11

Happy reading!

Apologies to those who follow both my blogs for all this double posting. But I finally got my copy of Photoshop working on my new computer so forgive me while I get some fun stuff out of my system.

In honour of Valentine's Day...for your desktop, iPhone, iPad, and Blackberry

Desktop 1920X1200

iPhone 4 640X960

iPad 1024X1024

I'll be adding these to the Mobile Wallpaper Archives over at Twi-Mobile of course. Let me know what you think.

Blackberry 480X360

iPhone 4 640X960



iPad 1024X1024


Here are the Edward ones.

Desktop 1920X1200

Blackerry 480X360

iPhone 4 640X960

iPad 1024X1024

Let me know what you think.

Just a quick note for those of you who aren't following Twi-Mobile yet (you know my other blog that is sucking up all my time :) First of all, I know most of you have a smartphone like a Blackberry or iPhone so Twi-Mobile applies to you! Go now and follow me!

Okay, I'll finish being a tyrant.

This is just a quick note to show off the Eclipse wallpapers I made for the iPad today. Note I don't own an iPad yet because they aren't available in Canada. They keep diverting all our shipments to the States! Darn Americans :)

I'm testing out box.net for hosting files so click on the image to download the iPad wallpaper - right click gets you only a thumbnail.

I have also started an archive at Twi-Mobile of iPad wallpapers, iPhone wallpapers, and Other Mobile wallpapers. If you have another phone that I haven't listed please let me know in the comments!

Mr. TC and I both have blogs. I don't think he's been reading my blog because honestly, I think it frightens him.

His blog is about a passion of his - travel. If he had a blog about a teenage drama (like heaven forbid a Hannah Montana blog with lusty photos of Miley Cyrus) I would probably shoot him and then myself in that order. Maybe I wouldn't go so far but I would still worry if he spent his whole day plastered to a screen twittering and blogging with other men about his love for Miley and Hannah Montana.

If Mr. TC had a blog about her I would die

But me having a blog about him is okay

But why is it what I am doing okay? It is the double standard that I am ashamed of yet I am exploiting it gloriously.

Wouldn't it be creepy if thousands of men were waiting for Miley Cyrus to turn 18 and had graphic descriptions of the way they would celebrate her birthday with her? Wait, I'm sure that is happening and I am just in denial.

Anyways, to me it's gross when I think about 40 year old men jacking off in front of the computer after reading a Hannah Montana fanfic. Yet it's okay that I frequently spend the day drooling over a 23 year old whose stare turns me into a puddle on the ground. Yes, 23 is legal but honestly he's still really young.

Okay, maybe he looks more grown up here

Is it because women are supposed to be more harmless than men? Or that a man would be more than happy to have women pining over him where a woman should be scared? I dare to say that a crazed female fan could sexually exploit and harm a man just as badly as if the genders were reversed.

I don't know why our significant others put up with it. Obviously there are some SOs who reap the rewards of wet panties from lemony fanfic. But even then I would be grossed out if Mr. TC read a story about Hannah M and her boyfriend getting it on and then came to bed with me because it made him excited.

Is it really okay that I could spend the whole day looking at this? (from RPFangirlDC)

I guess they love us and are willing to live with it. Until they put their foots down I suppose it does seem to make us happy and so they turn a blind eye and pray it will be over soon. This reminds me a post on Twired where SoTwired Jen's Not So Twilight boyfriend brings up the ultimate elephant in the room about what she'll do when this twilight thing is all over. They're obviously secure in the fact that we love them and there is no way Rob is going to run through doorways so they aren't threatened. But still, if the roles were reversed what would I think?

Robsession at it's best - backgrounds from MissAmyJoon

I guess if Mr. TC were to start a KStew blog of love while I was in my RPattz bloggie world then it would somehow seem balanced. But if it were more one sided on his side where I was left standing while watching him ogling and lusting after her, I'm not so sure how I'd feel. Does it mean that I'm the insecure one even if I truly didn't feel threatened but just disturbed and envious that she was getting so much of his attention?

Let me know your thoughts on this. I am not looking for a way to defend our blogosphere - I love it and I'm thankful that it exists and don't need a justification for why it's here. Sometimes you just question whether or not things are out of balance, but in my favour this time.

I guess for now I won't question it. I'll just sit back and enjoy.

Even though I have an Olympics post pending Fanfic Fridays come first.
I've mentioned Master of the Universe (MotU) before and I'm sure most of you ff diehards are already following this one. This story has over 40,000 reviews! It just updated again and sounds like it might be winding down. Like nearing the end of a book I'm feeling weepy and missing it already.

There are subtle clues that the author must be from the UK but I like her writing style. She definitely gives a lot of internal monologue to Bella and she really thinks the way of the everywoman.

Click banner below for Fanfiction.net link or here for twilighted.net

Click for fanfiction.net link

The story has just enough of a mysterious, gorgeous, billionaire (like has his own helicopters and yachts) Edward who has secrets that make him a bit mercurial to say the least. Bella can't help loving him but they have their ups and downs of course. He has a penchant for S&M; which I always like to see in a fanfic.

Another banner from twilighted.net

This story isn't just about the lemons. It has a nice plot and the character development, even for the supporting ones, is excellent. You really do care about what happens to them and there are still secrets to be discovered so close to the end.

Happy reading, it's on chapter 70 and worth every minute of it.

Almost finished another Olympics post. Stay tuned...

So as you may have read I wanted to bring mini-E with me to all our Olympic events but Mr. TC drew the line. So mini-E must stay at home and watch the house and kids while we go off into the land of snow (mostly rain) and enjoy festivities.

He has decided to have his own party at home with all the Olympic paraphernalia that we accumulate.

First off, if you missed the last post, we watched the torch relay come right by our house yesterday and also got some nice stuff from the people at Coca-Cola.

Here is Edward threatening to open my souvenir Coke bottles if I don't take him with me.



Bella wants him to go to the Opening Ceremonies too so she can have the house to herself.

Then they proceed to use my mittens as sleeping bags and stink them up. Mr. TC asks me if Edward's farts smell like flowers because he's so dreamy.



He also threatens to take the Opening Ceremony tickets off their beautiful lanyards and throw them in the bin.

Take me with you or the tickets die!

Add caption

It's okay Edward, I'm not going to hurt you.

Let's just talk this out.

Miga takes him to meet mini Quatchi to show them how friendly they are and maybe he should be happy to stay home and hang with them.

Come hang with us

Then they bring in Sumi who looks harmless enough.

Sumi uses his hypnotic Jasper-like powers "Come Join Us"

Sumi, unbeknownst to Edward, has super magical transforming protection powers of persuasion. Our secret weapon uses his Jasper-like magic to keep Edward happy until I return from the Opening Ceremonies.

Group hug with Mini-E

With mini-E seemingly happy now, I am off to the Opening Ceremonies. Going to take all day to get down there and go through the festivities.

Until the next adventures of Olympic mini-Edward..

love breaking out the martini glasses at home

I don't know about you but most of family and friends think that I am crazy. This twilight obsession has taken over my life and most of the people around me don't share my passion. So, instead of curing myself of this malady I decided to throw a party. The main purpose was to bring together the disconnected friends I had that were also twihards. Keep in mind there is minimal debauchery at this party as a few of the guests had just had babies. All good clean and elegant fun despite the super strong martinis - I swear I followed the recipe exactly.

invites

First thing I did of course was went shopping. After all, I needed a new machine to make invites. Why

I was inspired by these beautiful handmade twilightations from Lyssabz's etsy shop. Very pretty.

twilightations from Lyssabz's on etsy

But when it comes to crafts I like to make my own and I love a good trip to Michael's. There on the shelf for 40% off was the last pink Cricut machine in stock. For those of you non scrapbookers the Cricut is a personal electronic cutter.

special pink edition for The Cure

It's like a CAD machine that you use in drafting except that it cuts instead of draws. You can buy pricey cartridges for it or you can buy a software called Sure Cuts A Lot that lets you design, and hence cut, anything you want.

That's how I made these

Black paper cut out with the Cricut

See the shiny paper I used underneath?

My first party with a dress code

After all the spray glue fumes, I had a headache for two days. Worth it for pretty cards sent out in the mail to my friends.

food

I don't cook. I can reheat and follow a basic recipe for lasagna but dinner parties are my husband's thing. There was no way I was asking him to cook for this soiree since he was helping to get the kids out of the house.  So, I enlisted the help of a good girlfriend JR. She is a party planner/caterer when she is not at her full time job in health care and caring for her two teenage boys.

JR is not a twilight fan. She might have seen the first film once? (I think she has now become a Taycob fan since New Moon.) But she loves a dinner party and was super excited.

Here's what she came up with

Twilight Dinner Menu

Assorted Cheese platter

Edward’s Red Apple Amuse Bouche

Bella’s Spinach Salad

Cullen Family Blood Orange Granita

Port Angeles Mushroom Ravioli

Chocolate Fountain

Twilight Red Velvet Cupcakes

These are the only twilight cupcakes I've ever made *shock.* I'll have to devote a whole post to the process of getting the edible silver twilight on there.

goodies

I am a fan of favour bags. My friend DQ is kind of an expert at them but I went these alone.


I filled these bags I bought at Michaels with

strawberry shampoo (on sale for a buck each at save-on foods)

For non-twihards, this is Bella's shampoo

new moon chocolate from Dazzled by Twilight in Forks

Only 5 Edwards in a bag of 22 chocolates

twilight magnets from Chapters

DQ went all over town getting these

apple candles from Ikea

Don't mind the 3 - yes, I know you can count

I would have loved to put some jewelry in there but I put my money into buying the decorations :)

decor

I spent my money on this

Edward in my living room

Sorry about the fuzzy image but I figure it was more real than a stock web pic. I ordered him online before new moon was released. Tough bugger to get a hold of since it seemed to be only sold in the UK. Managed to order it from Yahoo through some guy in the US. Did not want to ask how he got one because I didn't care.

Mr. TC was kind enough to drive me down across to Point Roberts, WA to pick up Edward. When the border guard asked me what we were picking up he had trouble understanding "vampire cardboard cut-out." He was not happy looking. As soon as we said "twilight" he started howling with laughter and asking if it was this Edward guy. Apparently his daughter loves twilight and he even asked me where I ordered it from. Twilight saves the day again!

My friend ML brought along her mini Edward and Bella to the party to keep big Edward company.



Mr. TC also brought the TV down from our room into the living room so we had the Twilight movie running in the background all night.

Lovely tablecloth from JR

Tea lights everywhere and I had wonderful help stringing glowing Christmas lights all over. I wanted to reproduce the dance scene lighting from the movie and it worked.

My mom and son helped me set the table (that is the most enabling I've ever had from them).



I put a small selection of my twilight stuff out too.

Top right - framed KStew and RPattz autographed photo next to my Stephenie Meyer autographed book - nice to bring them out of the safe.

I usually have my autographed stuff locked up away from the kiddies. So nice to let them out to be loved. Oh, the red booklet is a copy of a rough draft script from Twilight.

stuff I made them do (nothing nasty)

Just coming back from Forks the week before I was armed with the most kick ass quiz encompassing all four books. I'm not going to post it here because I want you all to head to Forks with the Twitarded crew and get your own copy at the Chamber of Commerce.

Prizes included a New Moon movie companion guide


and a 5X7 photo autographed by Nikki Reed and Elizabeth Reaser. Both generously donated by dinner guests. Other things were stickers from Dazzled by Twilight and also, my personal favourite, Twilight Magnetic Poetry (note they don't sell this online anymore, photo below is only one I can find nowadays).

Twilight magnetic poetry

Lastly we cracked open my new Twilight Scene It game.

Everyone drove home sober but full of JR's yummy food and loaded up prizes and goodies.


To the women in this photo, thank you ladies for a lovely time. We'll have to throw another one for the release of Eclipse. I'm guessing there will be more drinking now that the kiddies are growing up.