My weekend in photos

I'm writing up my last (promise!) post about my France trip tomorrow, but felt like breaking up all the Francais talk with some other photos.  Were you sipping a mint julep or a margarita this weekend?

Okay, random weekend breakdown.  It is kind of listy to go with my list theme, so I figured it works.

Friday, Dan and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant:

and had this fried ice cream with about a two inch shell of fried dough around the ice cream center.  I kind of hated myself afterwards and made Dan run two miles the next day with me to try to work it off.  Or work off about two spoonfuls.

This is the same place I celebrated my 31st birthday this year.  Classy pic of me wearing the child's size sombrero, right?

Saturday, Dan coaxed me into waiting in a three hour line and another two hours on a stadium bleacher to see the President's rally.  He teaches government and had never been to one before.  I have to say even though the whole experience was a time suck (five hours of waiting), it was pretty interesting to hear a presidential speech in person.

That night, I hung out with friends for Cinco De Mayo, just some drinking and gossiping. Mali made her famous margaritas (limeade, beer, tequila).

I just had to share this picture of my friend's daughter.  She cried some crocodile tears until she got to suck on a lime, just for her little baby version of Cinco de Mayo.  Cutest thing ever.

Mali always makes some kind of fabulous treat.  This time she brought a caramel and chocolate pie that is my new favorite dessert.  It's just really gooey, salty, sweet, holy-calories-Batman- amazing.  She said she posted the recipe on Pinterest, so I'll have to snag to share later.

Sunday has been pretty low key (just normal chores and planning), but I did start an amazing book.  Have any of you read this?

It kind of reminds me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets... maybe... My Sister's Keeper.  Actually, that is probably selling the book short because it's a bit deeper than that, an unsentimental look at a teenager with cancer.   Randomly, it is written by the same guy that wrote that hilarious book that contained every curse word imaginable that was assigned to my eighth graders for summer reading one year.  I wrote a blog post about it a while ago since I was scared of the onslaught of parent complaints I would be receiving because whatever teacher picked the book had obviously not screened it for the thirteen year old sect.  Anyway, I haven't finished it yet, but have really liked it so far.  I'll let you know what I think when I finish it.

What did you do this weekend?

Currently loving...

1. These pictures from my new favorite website HeyGirlTeacher that has dorky  sexy messages for teachers, like:

and this...

and one of my favorites:

Bahaha!   LOVE it.

2.  Lame games-  For my birthday last weekend, my friend Mali brought over a game called HeadBandz she plays with her nieces and nephews.  They're all under the age of eight.  I turned 31.  I'm pretty sure we enjoyed it just about the same.

Basically the game consists of wearing headbands, sticking a card that you don't look at into the front, and asking questions to figure out what is written on the card.

Don't you love how it looks like we are at a Roaring 20's party or something?

Anyway, the game was kind of unintentionally hilarious, especially because we were drinking and the husbands refused to play but made snide comments as we did.  Like at one point, when Missy was trying to figure out that her card said, "I am a mushroom", Dan blurted out, "Think 'Phish concert'!"   Which brings me to the next addictive game:

3.  The App "Draw Something".  Have an iPhone?  Like Pictionary?  Get it, immediately.   It's awesome.  My sister, the Draw Something pro, actually got me to guess "Katniss" from Hunger Games the other day.   (Although the below pic is not hers; I got it from here.) 

4.  My new camera!   I finally bought a DSLR with the tutoring money I've saved since September.  Not really sure how to use anything, so I've been reading this:

Pretentious shots of trees and flowers coming soon!  

The Guilty Pleasure List

Sometimes I can’t believe how long I’ll go between posts on my blog.

I’ll think, “Oooh, I should do a post about this!” all the time about something dumb, like how I kind of have Dan addicted to The Bachelor with me, but then I end up falling to bed exhausted after grading another class set of essays and wasting time on YHL. This month has been especially tiring and cold and blah.

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, the first thing to take a backseat is being creative and anything social technology related, like updating Facebook or replying to e-mails. Instead, I kind of fall into a stupor and just randomly start surfing the web. Seriously, if you could see my browser history this month, you would cringe. But sometimes you have to indulge in some frivolous time wasting...

During January, I’ve Googled any guilty pleasure I can think of just to take the edge off, like:

1. Bachelor questions

via hereI’ve only watched The Bachelor once when I was in college, and had no interest in it until this slow January when I heard Dan guffawing at the premiere episode after accidentally flipping to it. We watched it ironically, only to make fun of how seriously the girls vying for the attention of Bachelor Ben are about the whole thing.

**We also did a faux drinking game where we knocked back invisible shots of vodka every time a person says “amazing connection”. If we had been really drinking, we would have both needed our stomachs pumped. **

While we still watch the show just to laugh our ass off when another girl sighs smitten after five minutes alone with the bachelor, we started asking questions about the show. “You think girls get paid for being on the show?” “Do the girls get to tour these cities, or are they told to stay in the hotel if they are not on a date?” “How many weeks do these girls take off for the freakin’ show??” Yep, I Googled every one of those questions (answers are: “no”, “no”, and six-eight weeks, in case you were interested). Don’t judge.

Okay, go ahead and judge. You know that sarcastic viewing of this show is bordering dangerously close to actual interest when the viewers are debating who should get the rose: Emily or the one that wears more make-up than a kid from Toddlers & Tiaras.

(Answer: Emily. Duh.)

2. Cupcake Wars

I know... I know... How original: a girl who likes cupcakes. But this is my guilty pleasure list for an otherwise slow month, so I have to include them. There are two amazing cupcake shops in Richmond, and one is around the corner from the school where I teach. I indulge in one every Friday, especially the tiramisu ones. Creamy marscarpone frosting, chocolate flakes, expresso soaked cake with a fluffy center= best. dessert. ever.

Anyhoo, I went on their website and saw that they recently appeared on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and made their tiramisu cupcake. Thus, a full Google search for the exact episode ensued, followed by an hour of watching the bakers talk smack about whose icing and cupcake display are better. It is an hour of my life I'm not getting back.

3. Useless trivia

My friend Mali turned 31 on a Wednesday, and just to mix things up, we went to trivia night at Penny Lane, a Beatles-themed bar owned by a couple from Liverpool. Dan is pretty amazing at trivia; he even made it to the second round of a Jeopardy try-out a couple years ago. But even he couldn’t save our team from being in eighth place. I guess the regulars at the bar are hard core about their trivia.

Anyway, I have been Googling non-stop useless trivia topics from that night ever since. It’s become a sickness. Can you say which celebrity had her ass x-rayed to prove it is real? Or what movie President Obama used to parody his life in his Correspondents’ Dinner speech? I’m ashamed to say that I can.

We’re already planning on making the occasional Wednesday trivia night, just as a
Also, I’ve been listening to “Eleanor Rigby” on repeat, which I heard for the first time while I was there. It’s the perfect rainy day song for this rather dreary month.

4. Books that don't make me think, like...

I just needed easy reading this month. How can you not breeze through a book like this one by Kelly from The Office, which had a deliciously quirky chapter: Alternate Titles for This Book, including:
The Girl with No Tattoo
Harry Potter Secret Book #8
There has Ceased to Be a Difference Between My Awake Clothes and My Asleep Clothes

Still reading? It's been twenty days between blog entries and all you got was this lousy post about cupcakes and the Bachelor.

Hope we still have an "amazing connection".

Peep this!

If you haven't seen the Washington Post's annual Peep Diarama contest, you need to!

People take the staple Easter candy, and they turn them from gritty treats...

into masterpieces like...

"Inpeeption"

"Good Night, Peep"


"Peep Busters"

Clue!

"Mrs. Peacock with the gun in the conservatory"

And my favorite homage to Up:

There are so many other ones, from topical (Chilean mine rescue) to grisly (Dexter's lab) to fun (Where the wild peeps are). Dan and I considered joining by doing something from The Office, but were scared off by all the artistic talent.

All my pictures (except first one) are from Washington Post. Click on that link for more of the "Peep Show"!

We all turn 30

Within a thirty day period, I'll have celebrated three of my close friends turning 30. Mine is coming up this March, and I have to say that these "trial runs" have made me look forward to mine, rather than feeling like this is an ending.

I was especially impressed with my friend Mali this weekend during her birthday celebration. She usually hates turning older, so much so that I've teased about being like Joey on that episode when all the friends turn 30. Stop bumming me out before mine! (Click here to see the birthday meltdown I'm talking about. Sooo funny!)

This weekend, though, she embraced her age and we partied like it was... uhhh... 1981 by going to see an 80's cover band. Yes, this was my third time checking them out. I can't say no to hair crimping, Madonna, and "Love is a Battlefield", while Mali was the Empress of all things 80's with her Member's Only jacket, beta tape tucked into her denim purse, and Garbage Pal Kids stickers.

I was still in happy birthday mode today while shopping for a good friend whose birthday is next Friday. Thirty wasn't scary anymore! If my friends were happy and calm, mine would be a piece of (bday) cake come March! Yay for embracing a new decade!

But then, I browsed the card aisle...

and I came across the world's most depressing 30th birthday card.

Nope, it didn't contain any tasteless jokes about sagging, or wrinkles, or being a grandma. There was no humor at all. Instead, it read like a card about loss.

Don't believe me? Check out the front:

This was the inside:

Confused, I checked to see if I was under the right heading. I mean, I must be looking at a birthday/sympathy hybrid card, right?

Or perhaps I was in the section for senior citizen birthdays, ages 80 and up??

Nope... as proved by this heading:

"Life doesn't always make sense, and days like this are not always happy ones" is referring to turning 30? Are you effing kidding me?? What a complete Debbie Downer!

Needless to say, I did not purchase this one for my friend.

Anyhoo, since this card rattled me a bit, it got me thinking about my looming birthday. I meant to come up with a "30 before 30" list to work on when I turned 29, but I'm kind of glad I slacked and didn't do that. One of the reasons Mali said she felt pretty content about turning older was that she came up with a "30 things while 30" list, that includes such "grip it and rip it" goals as: "get a tattoo" and "go sky diving". So I'm going to create one too once I hit the bit 3-0. I love the idea of starting an adventure once I hit this new decade, rather than bringing one to a close.

It should be a beginning, not an ending.

So suck it, Hallmark.

Tan-er-Rama

My sister is having people celebrate her birthday at a water park this Saturday, and I'm feeling like I need to get a tan fast.

I hope none of my friends and family were eating while reading this previous statement because they would probably choke in astonishment. A tan? Christen?!

You see, I'm a religious sunblock wearer. No, make that fanatic sunblock wearer. Correction, I'm a lunatic about wearing sunblock. Anyone out there ever heard the Bud Light's radio commercial that makes fun of obsessive sunscreen users? Well, my friend Mali cackled, "Christen, this is so you!" after hearing it.

"There are 24 hours in a day.
You're wearing 80 hour SPF protection.
If the sun fails to go down, you'll be ready!"
- "Real Men of Genius" Commercial

Folks, I have two bottles of 85 SPF in my closet right now. It's sad when you realize you are even crazier than a parody.

I didn't used to be like this. I used to go to tanning beds before dances in college (although, I never used all my tan time because I was too claustrophobic when I put down the coffin-like top), and my friend Missy and I would put on oil and lay out by the nearby lake or on towels outside our dorm on the front lawn.

Little by little though, I stopped tanning completely. I gradually read more and more articles in every fashion magazine about the dangers of tanning. I'd like to say that I was just worried about cancer, but at first it probably was more my vanity that I didn't want wrinkles when I got older. Also, my sister had a membership to a tanning salon and was turning darker than Snookie on Jersey Shore. I was worried about the effects of all that time in the bed, but I couldn't very well be a nag and a bronzed hypocrite! On a serious note, the final straw was when a colleague developed skin cancer and had to have a very painful surgery on her face. That's when I started buying SPF sunscreen 40.

No judgement if you do tan, though! After all, I think I may have gone the other extreme now by now. 85 SPF? It may be time for an intervention.

But back to my problem. I don't usually care about being tan, but I don't want to be the only pasty person at the park this Saturday and need a little color. Here's where I need some advice. Ladies, do any of you know a good option for a faux glow?

"Get a spray tan!" you may say.

Nah, too costly and I'm scared after watching the episode of Friends where Ross goes to a spray booth.

I was thinking of a good "tan in a bottle" that isn't too slow. (I've used Jergins lotion before and it takes about sixty applications before I see anything.) Please pipe up if you know of any good products, or any tips to avoid orange hands. Because there are things worse than being too pasty...

Via

Note to self

It hurt Dan and I to wake up at 6:00 a.m. this morning. We were left irritable, cranky, and a little doughy after our "snow vacation" with all its blissful baking of cookies, mauling of cinnamon rolls, drinking of beer, lunching at restaurants, surfing the web, and renting of every video at Blockbuster. You know your scraping the bottom of your video queue when you start renting old ass favorites. Pretty Woman? Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The late 80's called and they want their movies back...

That snow vacation consisted of five blissful days off from school, sandwiched between two of the laziest weekends of all time. (Mmmm... sandwich... body. in. withdrawal. still. craving. carbs...) Then, today, there was no gentle weaning from total slothdom, no two hour delay to cushion the impact of a full day at work. Nope, instead we were thrown back in the grind. You can't imagine how crabby my hubby was this morning. You know that scene in Anchorman where Ron Burgandy is at his ultimate low, sporting major facial hair growth and stumbling down the street, scaring small children?! Meet Dan.

Beer and cookies for three days straight was a bad choice.

Not that I was much better. I tried to overcompensate for my grouchiness this morning by channeling Mary Poppins with a splash of Rachel Ray in front of all my classes. I literally saw a sea of confused faces when I chirped, "Good morning, G blockers! Everyone ready for reading stations today?!" They looked a little relieved when my perky veneer later cracked, revealing the frazzled English teacher they know and love. "This is individual work- there should be no talking- please turn your work in the box- Hannah, I can't talk about your grade now-James, did you just hear me explain that you all need to take out your iBook- I said no talkingnotalkingturn your work in the box-not my desk-I saidnotmydesk!!"

The other teachers are in SVW (snow vacation withdrawal) too. They are glued to weather.com. There have been whispers that there may be an ice storm tomorrow, voices with a hard, frenetic edge. We've had a five day snow fix, and it wasn't enough.

Where was I? Oh yes. Refer myself back to post-it.


Update: Hello, snow day #6! I'm sitting in my p.j.'s after having polished off a couple of blueberry muffins this morning. Very happy girl!

The "word" list

"You got that right!
Word to your mother!"

- Vanilla Ice
"Ice, Ice Baby"

"A word is dead when it is said, some say

I say it just begins to live that day!"

- Emily Dickinson

Sundays in our household are a time for laundry, church, grocery shopping, grading, wiping away disgusting hair follicles from sink (do men ever clean up after shaving??), swiffering, folding, hanging, planning dinners for the week, and in general becoming cleaner, more organized human beings. At least, that's what is supposed to happen. Except, these days usually end up looking more like this: Dan watching Redskins, sulking over defeat, both of us taking naps, going to coffee house together, and wasting endless hours on the Internet.

Today, during one such hour on the Internet, I found www.wordle.net, an amazing website where people can enter their blog URL or a post, and it will create artwork with your most used words.

I absolutely love anything to do with words, from collecting interesting quotes and playing with the magnetic poetry on my file cabinet at school, to teaming up with Dan to beat our family's asses at Scrabble and Taboo. And I'm all about words that are pretty, despite what they may mean. In fact, during a lazy lunchtime last year, my very bored colleagues and I talked about words that we thought were beautiful ("tiramisu", "cantaloupe", we even had a general consensus that the word "chlamydia" was way too pretty to be a term for an STD!) and words we hated to say ("moist", "puberty", one colleague for some inexplicable reason hated the word "trousers"?)

Of course, being all about words, I was curious of what the word art for this blog would look like.

Here it is...


And, it can easily be put in different shades!



Some of my top words? "List" (to borrow an early 90's quote... "no, doy!"), "make", "create", "Dan", "going", "bake", "simple", "summer", "teacher", "need".

Pretty neat, huh?

I'm just glad my word art didn't include words from this post. I don't think anyone would have understood if "chlamydia" or "puberty" had been in my wordle! Yuck.

Go check out your blog word art! www.wordle.net

********

"What's in a name?
That which we call a rose
by any other word would smell as sweet"
- Romeo and Juliet

******

The "sweaty run" list

I pushed myself to do a three mile run today. Afterward, I jogged to my car, red-faced and gasping like a woman birthing triplets, a sweaty streak down the back of my tank top, and hair plastered to nape of neck. Oh, and I had a rather distinct lump where I had wedged my car keys in my sports bra. It kind of looked like a weird third nipple was growing smack dab in the middle of my chest.

Of course, this is when I run into two high school acquaintances.

Nice.

The "cheesy songs" list

A college friend (and fellow teacher) made me a mixed c.d. to cheer me up after teacher week. It definitely brought me back to the days when my friends and I made each other mixed tapes as little presents and wrote a description for each song (such as..."Song 1 is Mariah Carey's 'Hero' because 'a hero lies in you!'")

I've been listening to her c.d. at night while I'm packing for school. Here are a few of the cheesy songs and descriptions she wrote for me:

New Kids on the Block's "Step by step" - that's how we are getting through that pacing guide

"Take a bow"- because you just dealt with someone else's kid for seven hours

Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" - Call the sub because I am replaceable

Aretha Franklin's "Respect"- Boys and Girls, can you please just give me a little?

Snap's "I've got the Power"- I have the power... to fail you! Mua ha ha ha!

The Fray's "How to save a life"- I'm trying to save lives here, but don't know if it is working

Queen's "We are the champions"- of teaching that is!

Welcome back to school!

Isn't she the funniest? Isn't there nothing like 90's song "I've got the power" to pump up a person's spirit?? :)

The secrets list

Secrets, secrets are such fun!This secret and illustrated card are courtesy of Post Secret.

How can you not want to read a juicy secret like the above one?!

Since I'm on vacation right now and can sleep in as long as I want tomorrow, I've been doing a bit of late night Internet searching and checked out a website called Post Secret that a friend had told me about. Basically, it's a blog (and series of books) where anonymous people write down a secret on an illustrated post card to post to the world. I wasn't crazy about all of the secrets I read. If you go to the website, you'll see that some are pretty disturbing. I did, however, chuckle or empathize with several of them, and thought, What a great list idea!

My List of Secrets:

1. I'm scared that some day dinner at T.G.I. Friday's will be my idea of an amazing date night.
2. The biggest reason I want a dog? I love how freakin' excited they are when you come home!
3. Sometimes I peak at the ending of a book. And then get mad at myself.
4. I want to win teacher-of-the-month to feel validated for the hard work I put in (and because I want to win the handful of gift cards.)
5. I think about what kind of mother I will be whenever I talk with my fellow mommy friends.
6. Going along with #5: I constantly wonder how I will know when it is time to try for a baby.
7. I tried to finish an easy level Soduko puzzle with Dan on a recent plane flight. We gave up.
8. I've become a bit obsessive about wearing sunscreen now because I'm trying to reverse the minor tanning bed damage I did in college. I also love fake tanning lotions.
9. I love writing posts on this blog and am so grateful for those who actually read them. :)
10. I sometimes compare my blog to others that are absolutely brilliant, that are funny, and that have a hundred followers. Then I wish my blog was more brilliant, funny, and followed.
11. I like reading celeb magazines because it's refreshing to judge without any guilt.

Hope you enjoyed my little secrets! Here's another one from Post Secret you might like:

On my next post, I'll let you know about my "Just do it #3: Cook a full meal for eight".

Just do it

I read in a magazine today that writing a letter to yourself can be the best possible motivation. I figure that posting said letter for other people to read will especially give me the kick-in-the- ass I so desperately need.

Posted below is a letter from "organized me" to "indecisive me".

Is it completely cuckoo to talk to myself in second person? Perhaps. Anyway, let's test the theory that a letter to self can motivate:

Dear Indecisive Self,

"Just do it" ain't only a Nike slogan. It's time for you to "just do" something. Anything. Finish a project. Follow through on an idea. Step out of your comfort zone.

It's time to be more of a "doer."

Doers actually finish things on their lists, rather than just writing them down.

They don't waffle over the pros and cons indefinitely.

Instead, they come up with an idea, weigh the positives and negatives, make a decision, and follow through.

This sounds so utterly simple: think, make a decision, and follow through. Why do you have so much trouble getting to that last step? Instead, you endlessly trudge in that sticky "thinking-dreaming-worrying" stage. In fact, most of your current ideas have been like a treadmill workout: a lot of effort, but nothing is truly moving forward.

I think you know what I'm talk about. In May, the summer seemed to span out luxuriously, and you had so many plans! There were visions of learning to play tennis, taking more photographs, and planning travel adventures. You were going to cook new exotic dishes, conquer some fears, redo your office and kitchen, and start to make those big life decisions you had been putting off. In short, you planned on becoming a braver, fitter, greener, happier, more organized person by the end of August.

Not that you had high expectations or anything...

Now, obviously all of the things on this wish list were not going to happen, but it would have been nice to start on a few of them. Instead, you keep gathering ideas that go nowhere.

Case in point #1: How about those cookbooks you checked out from the library? Remember all the time you spent vetoing recipes with expensive ingredients and weird flavors that Dan might not like? I really thought that you were on to something when you bookmarked several pages. The current status of this goal? You have not attempted to cook a single dish. The cookbooks are now accumulating late charges every day. We could have bought a used cookbook with the $10 we'll end up spending when you finally return them.

Case in point #2: you started to re-do the office weeks ago. It's still not finished. The rest of the upstairs still looks like crack addicts live there. There are tools, paintbrushes, papers, school books, and boxes everywhere. I haven't seen my hardwood floors in a very long time.

Must. complete. office. to. get. upstairs. back....

Yet, even after stubbing your toe on above mess when getting up to pee in the night, you still haven't finished the office. Instead, you keep ruminating about every decision to be made:
* Etsy prints, or wedding photos? * Keep fan and add a new shade, or try a new piece all together? * More boxes? Use what I got? Time to clean out closets? Ooh, let me go do this right now! If I could only reach my closet...

Enough. You're not designing the Oval Office. It's time to "get 'er done".

You're lucky that Dan thinks the whole situation is hilarious. When you endlessly deliberated over paint shades, he just chuckled and whispered in your ear, "Paralysis by analysis again, huh?" There's got to be one sane partner, and gosh-love-him, I guess he's it.

Case in point #3: Uh, only the rest of your summer list!

I'm intervening for your own good. If you can't make a decision on which camera to buy before your trip (next week, by the way!) or whether you should attempt to make paella, how are you ever going to make bigger decisions? I want you to actually see Italy, not just dog-ear Fodor's travel books. You and Dan have talked about getting a dog for two years now, even going so far as to picking a cute, Beatles-inspired name. Lennon isn't going to bring himself home from the SPCA! You've got to make it happen. And don't let me even bring up the huge life decisions that you'll need to make someday...

Maybe this "tough love" approach isn't totally fair. You've been working four days a week at summer school, and basking in the joys of summer the rest of the time. I'm actually okay with that! You deserve those trips to Coldstone's for a cone, the walks around the neighborhood, the trip to Great Falls (see above pic), and the lazy afternoons by the pool. I don't mind you not accomplishing things you are, say, laughing over The Office re-runs with Dan or having lunch with friends. What I do care about is when you obsess over something rather than daring to make a decision.

I'm officially outing you in the hopes that you will make things happen. And if I've got to blackmail you, so be it! Finish at least one thing tomorrow, or I'll post the photos of the disgusting mess in master and guest bedroom! Do you want the entire blog world to see this?

That's what I thought.

Love,

Organized Me

The "Oh, Edward, where art thou?" list

Edward is dreamy because:
* he has perfectly coiffed hair that is hilarious
* his skin sparkles
* he keeps the sexual tensions simmering but isn't a manslut
* every girl wants him as a boyfriend
* he never bites just because he's thirsty

*********

If you haven't been living under a rock, you know that there has been a huge vampire craze lately. With two young adult series and a new television show, people are all about the vampires. I know I'm fond of one in particular...

I think there is an unspoken law that if one teaches middle school English, then that person is required to be a huge Twilight fan. How else are you going to communicate with the eighth grade girls if you can't occasionally join in the wistful Edward-is-so-dreamy sighs? This is what I tell myself: the obsession is all in the name of being a supportive middle school instructor. That rationalizes my reading of the book, right?
The only way to keep from feeling like a huge teeny bopper is to reassure myself that I'm not the only adult female fan out there. An early f0rty-something teacher at my school once giggled to me that she tells her husband and children that she needs some "time with my boyfriend Edward" whenever she lays down to continue reading the fourth book. Her teenage daughter has only read the first two in the series. What is wrong with this picture? :)

I think my sister might even have this teacher beat, though! Here's a picture of her "vamping" it up for Halloween this past year (she even had snap-on fangs!):

Anyway, since Vampire love is kinda hot right now, I decided to try the hugely popular vampire series TruBlood by renting the first season. After all, how different from Twilight could it be if there was still a vampire-human relationship? (I was also happy that the television series' odd couple was slightly older and might have the chance of moving off first base at some point!)

Uhhh.... a warning to other fans: This show ain't like Twilight. There is no sparkling skin in the sunlight and no sensual almost-kiss scenes. While there were a few clever parts, I kind of felt like I needed a shower afterwards from watching a disturbing exorcism, a junkie having sex in an alley, and very graphic murder scenes. Dan, being a total guy, thought it was pretty great.

No offense to anyone who loves this series, though! I can certainly see why some would like the clever story lines, and I thought the acting was pretty solid. It just wasn't my cup of tea. In fact, I don't think it was the kind of series that people who say the antiquated phrase "cup of tea" would like!

(Side note: If you are planning on giving this show a try, stop reading now! I have one small spoiler.)

I know some people are obsessed with the Bill-Sookie relationship (the characters that some way are very much like Belle and Edward), but I just didn't get it. The juicy, spurting blood from neck wound during the otherwise passionate sex scene kind of turned my stomach. Oh, and during their post-coital snuggling, the protagonist Sookie said that she was weak from loss of blood, to which Bill, otherwise known as "NOT-Edward", responded with advice about her drinking energy drinks with electrolytes so he could "feed" on her more often. Ick!

Let's just put it this way...Edward would never do this.

Update:  Okay, I find this post kinda funny now because last summer my sister and I watched a ridiculous number of episodes over a pitcher of margaritas. :)  I guess initially I was thinking it would be something it wasn't, and once I accepted it as completely trashy, ridiculously bloody, kinda slutty, campy fun, I was on board.  :)