New Moon Party - Invites and Tableware

I thought I would give you guys a sneak peek at what I've got so far for the party!

We all know that the mood for any party is set with the invitations. I'm still trying to perfect my invitations and the exact mood I want to set for this party, but here is what I have so far.

(The pic was taken with my iPhone, so sorry for the fuzziness)

What do you think?

Here is what I have so far for the tableware:

I found these yummy plates at buycostumes.com

I also bought some napkins with the picture of Edward, Bella, and Jacob on them. They had other plates and cups, but I didn't want to get too "matchy". So, to go along with these, I purchased chocolate brown dinner plates, clear cups, and these...

I bought these margarita glasses at orientaltrading.com

I had them personalized with the "Fangs and Fur Party - November, 19 2009"! ($14.95/12)

I think our pomegranate margaritas will be tasty in these! What do you think?

I've got an idea for these...

Hopefully, I'll finish my project and be able to show you guys next week!

I'm going to leave you with this wolf pack video. It's hot!

Hope everyone has a great day!♥

Tuesday Twilight Saga Update

I am up to my ears and eyeballs in New Moon party stuff. I'm pretty sure I'm driving everyone around me CA-RAZY with all of it. I just can't help myself. You see all of that "stuff" in the box...well, it started out as a small collection of things for my New Moon party and it's turned into a HEAPING pile in a matter of weeks. I've got plans for making invitations, a banner, center pieces, goody bags (aka swag bags)...then there is the decor, the food, and the fun (of course)...which require lots and lots of planning. I'm no longer hosting the party at someone's house, but at the hotel, and that has brought on a whole new set of obstacles. However, everything will be done by November 19th! It will...it has to...my Twilight happiness depends on it. I don't want to have any regrets of things I wish I had done. I realize there is always Eclipse, but who wants to wait until June 2010? Not me. In the next few weeks, I'll be posting pics of finished projects, so check back if you're interested in witnessing some Twilight craziness. I should be committed. Truly.

I wanted to give a few shout-outs to some Etsy sellers. Thanks to them I have found some fabulous and fun items that will be going in my "swag bags":

• Shabby Sneakers - cute iron-on transfers w/ Twilight sayings ($7) and a New Moon domino necklace ($10-12) - these are actually not going in the swag bags, just a little something for me. :)
• ElectrikPinkPirate's Curios from California - super cool vampire bite mark temporary tattoos ($1.50/4 sets)
• AJ Sweet Soap - adorable mini vampire teeth soaps ($6.00/20). She also has a "Jacob" soap, wolf howling at the moon...that may be my next purchase!
• Twimom - you can get your very own pdf file full of New Moon party planning including games, invites, and tons of extras! ($8)

I've also found some wax vamp teeth at Oriental Trading and of course New Moon Candy at Walgreen's. Another fun item I picked up at Walgreen's were these warewolf gloves...thought they would make a cute game prize...especially for a Team Jacob person!

Hopefully tomorrow or Thursday I'll be able to show you the New Moon banner I've been working on!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!♥

Friend Makin' Monday

It's Friend Makin' Monday over at {aefilkins}!

This week's topic comes courtesy of Kenz at All the Weigh.

If life were a movie, which movie would you want to live in?

I know you guys think I'm going to say this...




BUT that would just be sooooo predictable of me. Plus, as much as I love the twisted love of Bella, Edward, and Jacob; I would not want that decision...do you pick the hott-hot-blooded-phaser or the HOTT-cold-blooded-blood-sucker?? Any girl would be lucky to have just ONE person love her as much as Jacob and Edward love Bella...let alone TWO.

I'm a huge fan of all tragic love stories like Romeo and Juliet...but I'm not a fan of the dying part.

I think my top pick would have to be this...



I love the character of Emma Woodhouse. Emma is my favorite Jane Austen book and the interpretation of the book on the big screen is an all time favorite of mine as well. Gwenyth Paltrow plays Emma. She is a strong independent woman. She thinks she never wants to marry, but she finds an unexpected love in Mr. Knightley. I LOVE unexpected love...oh, and I would love love love to live in the 1800's.

What movie would you want to live in? Go on over to Amber's and play along!

Edward-Halloween-StarbucksCard Giveaway!!

Not my giveaway, but my friend and fellow Twilight Lover, Jen's!

You can win HIM...

Hurry on over to Harried Mom of Four...giveaway ends on October 25!

Thursday Thankfuls and an Easy Peasy Greek Pasta Recipe

You have no idea how THANKFUL I am that it's Thursday! It has been quite the week. I've kind of been in a funk this week. It's not been all puppy dogs and rainbows. Monday was definitely a Monday...in every since of the word. I got in trouble like all day at work. If it was wrong, it was my fault. Isaiah had a soccer game on Monday evening that I knew nothing about. It was supposed to just be practice. We were late and he had no uniform on...it was embarrassing. Speaking of late, Isaiah was late to school on Tuesday. Then he was almost late again on Wednesday. Yesterday was Weight Watchers and I gained 1.6 pounds...exactly what I had lost the last time I weighed in two weeks ago. I looked back in my log and I haven't lost a single ounce since August 19! I'm at exactly the same weight (down to the tenth of a pound) I was in August...two months with no weight loss. It is so frustrating. Even though I've been in this funk, it's still important to list my "thankfuls"...actually more important.

Today I am thankful for...

• My kiddos I teach at church. They really boost my spirits. We've been getting ready for our Harvest Festival at church and last night we made posters to decorate the church. Our theme this year is Superheroes...I can't wait!
• Party planning for New Moon. I LOVE party planning and I LOVE Twilight/New Moon, so planning this party has been the most fun! I'll start posting some pics of the things I've bought so far and let you guys know what I have planned.
• Party in the USA! "Noddin' my head like yeah...movin my hips like yeah..." You guys know this song, right? The new Miley Cyrus song. If you haven't heard it, you must. I play it in my car or in my office at least 5 times a day.
• Edward and Jacob in my office. No matter how bad the day is, when I look behind my door and see those FSE and FSJ, I have no choice but to smile. :)
• The days of sunshine we've had. I was in desperate need of some natural vitamin d! It's raining and yucky again today, but maybe the sun will come out tomorrow..."when I think of day that's gray and lonely. I just stick up my chin and grin and sayyyyyyy...oooooooooo...the sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, they'll be sun..." Ok, enough of me serenading you guys. :)

Now for my easy peasy (made up) Greek Pasta recipe.

I was so craving some Greek Pasta like you would get at Zio's or the version they used to serve at Olive Garden, so Monday night I made up my own version. It was so good. I'd like to share.

Jenny's Easy Peasy Greek Pasta

1. Tyson Grilled Chicken Strips (in the freezer section...the whole bag)
2. 1 can of Rotel (drained)
3. 1/2 jar Kalmata olives (or the whole jar, if you like them as much as me)
4. 1/4 cup chopped shallots (or onions would work)
5. 2 Tabelspoons olive oil
6. dash of parsley
7. a little of the liquid (about 1/4 cup) out of the Kalmata Olive jar (if you don't use this then you'll need some liquid like chicken broth or something)
8. Whole Wheat Penne Pasta (I cooked the whole box, but only used about 2/3)
9. feta cheese

Start by putting your pasta on to boil. In a skillet, throw in your chicken and drizzle with the 2 T olive oil, Rotel, olives, olive juice (or chicken broth), shallots, and parsley. Let that just simmer and cook. Drain pasta. Toss with chicken mixture. Sprinkle feta cheese on top. Serve. Enjoy! It's delish and tastes pretty close to what I've had in restaurants. Oh, and it's healthy too!! I'm guessing the points to be 9 points (for 1 cup of pasta and 3 oz of the chicken mixture w/ 2 T crumbled feta cheese...plenty for dinner)! Pair with a salad dressed w/ balsalmic vinegar and olive oil. Yumm-O!

Tuesday Twilight Saga Update

This is a very exciting TTSU because we are officially ONLY ONE MONTH AWAY from the premiere of New Moon! WOOT!

I'm thinking up some good ideas for some bloggy fun in the next few weeks. I do my best work in the shower and while standing in the shower the other day I started to put my plan together...so stay tuned. I'll be making another post soon with details.

There is a NEW New Moon clip on iTunes (available for free download today!)

Here it is...


How's that for some wolf pack action?! I LOVE it! ( you probably already knew I was going to say that...I'm becoming so predictable)

The soundtrack is out...what do you guys think? I know that I'll love it more when I can connect the songs to the scenes in the movie. Right now my favorite songs are...

1. Death Cab For Cutie - "Meet Me On The Equinox"
2. Anya Marina - "Satellite Heart"
3. The very last song on the CD, but I can't remember the artist, I believe the song is titled "New Moon" (The Meadow), no lyrics, just piano...it's beautiful.

I'm such a dork (like I needed to tell you guys that)...but as I listen to these songs I try to imagine what scene they go with...anybody else do that? I love Satellite Heart. I think it has the perfect mood for the movie. Something about it makes me think that it will be somewhere in the scenes where Bella is in her deep dark depression after Edward leaves. I think Meet Me On The Equinox might be in one of the Italy scenes or possibly when Alice comes to Bella and they get on the plane to go save Edward...oooo, or maybe it's when Bella is going cliff-diving...maybe it's like Bella wanting to meet Edward and the only way she can see him is when she does reckless dangerous things? Hmmm. What do you guys think?

Eclipse News - Peter Facinelli said on his Twitter account that Eclipse is in its LAST week of filming! (@peterfacinelli - Back in Vancouver. Coming down the home stretch. 1 more week to go on Eclipse.
10:46 AM Oct 18th from Tweetie )Can you believe that? The awesome thing is that we won't have to wait a WHOLE YEAR from now to see Eclipse! It'll be out in June 2010. What I don't like is that there isn't much talk of Breaking Dawn...and I WANT BREAKING DAWN! Hopefully after Eclipse goes into post-production we'll start hearing more about the last movie.

Hope you guys are having a great week so far! *loves*

Friday Confessions

I must confess...

• Edward and Jacob will be here, at my office, soon!! I ordered a life-size stand-up Edward and Jacob for my New Moon party. I'm so flippin' excited. I got an e-mail from Nordstrom today and they are shipped!





My Google Reader is overflowing. I am trying to make it around to everyone's blog, but I'm failing miserably. I follow sooooo many fabulous blogs with funny reads, great recipes, crafty crafts, and interesting stories...it takes so much time to read and comment on each one. Sometimes I read, but then run out of time to comment. ARGH! It's frustrating. I want to just delete everything in my Google Reader and start fresh. Anybody else been there?



My house is a complete disaster! I would be mortified if anyone besides me, Michael, or Isaiah stepped foot in the door. It's awful. I lean toward the side of being a neat-freak, so I'm not sure what has happened. I guess it's a combination of being overly busy and way too tired. Hopefully this weekend things will get put back in its place. A place for everything and everything in its place - that's the way I like things.



I've had a Pumpkin Spice White Mocha three days this week. I'm drawing the line.



I'm ridiculously excited that the New Moon soundtrack is out today!! (Downloading it as I type this blog) Also, have you seen the new People magazine? You should. It's fabulous. New Moon Collector's Edition! Go buy it, thank me later. :P I'm slightly obsessed with purchasing Twilight related magazines



I'm having a hard time describing the weather here today...there is this bright yellow orb in the sky...and no rain...it's strange, something I slightly remember from an earlier time, but haven't experienced recently. Suggestions? Anybody?

Hope you are all having a FABULOUS Friday!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday Thankfuls

I'm thankful for...

• God. He's so good.
• this hot cup of coffee I'm drinking, even though it is of the office-break-room-variety. It is serving it's purpose.
• yesterday...getting to go to the zoo with Isaiah. It was so much fun. Lots of good "rememberies", as Isaiah would say.
• our weather forecast for tomorrow. Partly sunny with the temps rising into the mid 60's...nice.
• inside jokes.
• people who remember that SHOWING you how they feel is much better than just TELLING you how they feel.

Remember to show someone how you feel today...LOVE is a verb.

Tuesday Twilight Saga Update

Yesterday at Hot Topic they had Bella’s green dress from the movie and it is sooooo pretty!


I almost bought it on a whim, but changed my mind. I think it’s something I would wear again, but I’m not sure. Plus, I had a reality check for a moment right there in the middle of HT, when I reminded myself that I AM NOT 16…I AM 32…and I need to keep things in perspective. So, I slowly backed away from the dress and the punk rocker sales guy who was trying to convince me how great I would look in the dress, and I settled for some bracelets instead.

Whew, close call. You see how dangerous it is for me to go in there alone. In a mere 20 minutes I could be talked into a whole Bella wardrobe and some Edward stuff to boot. I think I need supervision on my next trip. I also bought this...

and this...

...and a Jacob bookmark. The Bella in me is coming out and forcing me to have a soft spot for Jacob...until I read Eclipse and then I get ticked off at him all over again...but isn't that very Bella-ish too? I always thought of myself as an Alice...hmmmmm.

Don't forget about the soundtrack release this Friday (moved up a week from it's original release date)!!! Hot Topic is hosting a Listening Party and the punk rocker sales guy informed me that if you purchase your CD from HT, you'll also get a free gift...and it's only 10 bucks!

I'll admit...

• I let Isaiah go to school in shorts and rain boots today. It was quite the fashion statement.
• I coerced him into taking his electronic Moon to show-and-tell today instead of Megatron (it's the letter 'M')
• I'm thinking of bribing him into dressing up in one of the cute costumes out of the Pottery Barn catalog instead of Darth Vader...he dresses up as Darth Vader on a regular basis. I'm wanting something cute and different and creative. He wants Darth Vader.
• I've had TWO VENTI Americanos today...that's like 8 shots of espresso. I have a little nervous energy to say the least.
• I sat outside Starbucks in 40 something degree weather, no coat, shivering, drinking my hot Venti Americano...and LOVING every minute of it.
• I've listened to this a *few* times...
  
  

Death Cab For Cutie - New Music - More Music Videos

I've already pre-purchased the New Moon Soundtrack on iTunes. Have you?

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS Friday!

Thursday Thankfuls

It's Thursday and I'm thankful for...

• Peanut Butter. I love it.



• These way cute rain boots I'm wearing today.



• When I see "Michelle.Torres" pop up in my e-mail inbox. I love her.



• My friend and fellow blogger Lemon Annie. She's super awesome, and I'm not just saying that because we're so similar. ;) She's a kindred spirit. Her son was just diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes. If you have a moment, hope on over to her blog (click on her name) and read her post and leave her some comment love. She's very passionate about finding a cure and I'm right there with her, so I'm sure I'll be posting some more things regarding her blog and raising awareness for diabetes.



• Divine appointment. I just believe that we are all where were are supposed to be when we are supposed to be there. For instance, this morning I believe that it was by divine appointment that I did not arrive to work until 9:00...some may say that I was late, but I choose to believe that I was supposed to arrive at work at 9:00...if my boss asks for an excuse, I'm just going to tell her to take it up with THE big guy.



• My way cute bag that my darling hubby bought me for my birthday...with NO assistance, well I'm sure he received assistance from the nice sales lady at Coach...I should send her a 'thank you'. I LOVE it! By the way, he seems to think that "dh" could be code for "dumb husband" or some other derogatory term...where would he get an idea like that?

I hope you are all having a wonderful week! *LOVES*

Tuesday Twilight Saga Update

45 DAYS! It's not long now...before we know it the countdown will be less than a month! Time goes by so fast! I've been sick for a few days and have been cooped up in the house with lots of time to watch Twilight and read Twilight stuff (and take lots of Twilight trivia on Facebook). Anytime I do that, it puts me right back into my little fantasty world, where the Cullens are. So, I woke up this morning wondering what the Cullens were up to today. Do you ever think that? They're so real to me...their lives must go on outside the pages of those four books.

Today is the release of the New Moon Illustrated Companion! It's available on Amazon.com for about $10!

One thing I wanted to say is that there are spoilers everywhere. I, for one, struggle with the idea of knowing and not knowing. Although I'm going to buy the Illustrated Movie Companion, I don't want to read specific details about the movie just yet. Know what I mean? I want that element of surprise and I want to experience it all for the first time at 12:00 on November 19th! It's much more exciting that way. So, just beware that there are New Moon spoilers surfacing and resist the urge to read them if you still want that element of surprise the night (or day) you go watch the movie.

There is a website where you can register for a FREE trip to see the premier of New Moon (on a new moon ;) in LA on November 16th! Go HERE to register. I have a feeling you might get some junk mail when you sign up for this though. There is some small print at the bottom that says "By submitting your information above, you will also receive special offers from selected third parties..." Just so you know.

Inside the covers of Interview Magazine are pictures and an interview (go figure) with KStewart. (It's the September 2009 Issue with Natalie Portman on the cover.)

I'm LOVING my copy of The Sexy Stars of Twilight: New Moon!

According to the quiz inside, I'm officially Switzerland. It told me that I am torn between the vamp and wolf. I've always thought of myself as an Edward girl, but apparently I have a soft spot for Jacob. Maybe I'm more like Bella than I thought.

Oh, and one last thing. Nordstrom has some FAB Twilight inspired makeup, including the Lip Venom that I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago...on sale in stores and on-line! I'm feeling a trip to the mall coming on. Who can say "birthday money"? :)

Speaking of birthday, THANK YOU ALL for the sweet birthday wishes, e-mails, and phone calls. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you'll ever know! Love you guys!

Hope everyone is having a totally TWILIGHT Tuesday!

On this day in 1977...

I was born. I know, not very exciting. Just think, if it wasn't for that day 32 years ago, you wouldn't have me around to annoy you will all of my Twilight crazy talk and unending Starbucks chatter. On my birthday, I would like to take a moment to show some gratitude and do some Thursday Thankfuls...

• I'm thankful for life and that I know Jesus. I'm thankful that God is my final word and authority. He loves me and keeps me.
• I'm thankful for my husband, my funny little boy, and my amazing family. I seriously was born into the best family (in my book).
• I'm thankful for this conversation I had with Isaiah last week...Isaiah said "mom, I'm glad that you "borned" me". I said "me too, bubby, I love you so much". He said "mom, you didn't even know what I was going to look like, did you?" I said "no, but I knew God would give me just what I needed and it was you." He said "I'm pretty cute, huh?" (He doesn't lack confidence.)
• I'm thankful for my friends. I've got old friends, new friends, best friends, bloggy friends, e-mail buddies, Twilight friends, Facebook friends...I just couldn't be more blessed. I'm eternally grateful for all of you. You make my days brighter. I love you all.
• I'm not thankful that I have to take Isaiah to get a root canal...or for the fact that he's told me that "HE'S HUNGRY" about 20 times in the 20 minutes he's been awake. (He can't eat before the root canal, mandatory from the dentist...he threw up all over the place last time.) HOWEVER, I am thankful that I get to spend the morning with my Sugar Bear. I'm praying for peace and calmness and no discomfort at the dentist today for Isaiah (and me).
• I'm thankful for the Starbucks I will be partaking of in a few hours. I'm trying to not eat anything or drink anything either, since Isaiah can't. Have you tried their new VIA? It's an "instant" coffee, but that term does not do it justice. It can mix into anything...hot or cold...water, milk...ice cream...it's amazing! I think I'll take some with me to have while I'm patiently waiting.

Hope everyone has a fabulous day today!