Can I get a Crown (or 4) with that Value Meal?

I may or may not be in the middle of a New Moon hangover. It is possible that I did not fall asleep until almost 4am and had dreams that consisted of (very hawt) vampires and werewolves mixed with themes from my latest WIP. I pretty much feel like I haven't slept in over 24 hours.

BUT ...

It was SOOOO worth it!!!

I'm sure there are those out there that did not enjoy it. But I totally did!

And not even JUST because of these ...



Though they did contribute to the overall likability of the film.

Actually I really enjoyed Jacob Black's personality. Oh come on! Really he has an awesome personality in the movie ... I swear! Really I've tried very hard not to be Team Jacob mainly because he's way to young and I find it slightly disturbing. But I have to admit after watching him play the part, and he played the snarkasm part perfectly, I am kinda routing for him and Bella. (GASP!!!) But let's be realistic, his snarkasm can't compare to the over all angst of a hot (adult) vampire!!!

Ok so aside from that I promised a story. And when I make a promise I deliver!

Yesterday I decided it was imperative that I found myself a set of New Moon Burger King crowns. My Team Edward shirt and Mini E just didn't feel like enough to make me look like a complete idiot. I wanted to go a bit further.

So this is how I accomplished it....

BK #1

I walk in, telling my 4 yr old that we were not going in for food. He convinced me that we were indeed going in for food. But I wanted to take care of the crown first. So I walked up to an older woman. And when I say older I say as in the actual age of Edward kind of old. (give or take 30 or 40 years) I walk up with 4 year old and ask her for a crown (or two) and she looks at 4 year old and get's so excited and hands me over a Nickelodeon Teen Choice Award crown. FAIL.

So I say, "Um do you have any of the new crowns?"

"No these are the only crowns we have," the ancient woman replies still smiling at 4 year old as she begins to hand over the second crown.

I grab 4 year old, throw the crown on his head and say thank you as I head out the door before she can hand me a second crown.

4 year old is excited about the crown so he doesn't notice that he didn't get food ... until we get in the car empty handed of course. But I tell him not to worry. We are going to try a different BK. All is well.

BK #2

We walk in to a much shorter line so this time I actually wait, next to two really cute college boys. (This can be a problem sometimes living in the same town as a Big Ten school) We get to the counter and a teenagish boy is standing behind the counter and normal boring crowns are sitting on the counter.

"Do you have the new crowns?" I ask in a covert voice.

"You mean New Moon?" he says with an all too wide grin. I glance to the side hoping cute boys aren't staring at me and my full grown adultness as I ask about crowns for a teenage movie.

"Um yeah," I answer.

"Yeah I'm going tonight too," he says as he hands me a couple crowns. Only a couple. There are 4 of us going to the movie. I look at the 4 year old and ask him if he's hungry. As if I even had to ask.

"Can I get some cini minis?" I ask, then add, "And two more crowns with those."

"Sure!" he says.

So I go stand in line with my four crowns waiting for my $1 meal when another woman, possibly a year or two older than me, comes in and asks for a few crowns also.

I look at her and laugh.

"Are those for your kids?" I ask laughing and holding up my crowns. We share a little chuckle.

Then the manager walks up as us two, well aged, women begin to leave and she grits her teeth and says to the boy, "You're only suppose to hand those out with the gift cards."

OOPS!

So there you have my BK Crown Adventure. It was a bit funnier while it happened. But hopefully you enjoyed it a bit too. Now off to possibly get maybe 10 minutes of sleep before I have to finish cleaning the house, finish a scrapbook, pack and get ready to go on a road trip for the weekend. And somehow I need to fit a shower in there and I still have some Grey's Anatomy to catch up on!!!

Has anyone seen some extra time?

Take Me to the Theater!

Now that books, music, and TV shows are out of the way, I suppose the obvious thing to do is mention all my favorite movies. I can't go leaving them out, especially considering that I Love movies!

I'm not going to list the obvious Harry Potter and Twilight movies. I'm pretty sure you are all well aware of my slight obsessions fondness of these movies.

So lets start with my favorite.

Love Actually

I'm not sure what it is about this movie, but I adore it. I insist upon watching it every Christmas season. It's a must.

Not too many others make the "Favorites" list ... and after that I like them all!

13 Going on 30
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
PS I Love You
Enchanted
The Story of Us
Anastasia

So what are your favorite movies?

PS: Jessica Nelson asked a question yesterday about the similarities between being a singer and being a writer. Check out my answer over at my website!

Tour de Chateau Poppins

Welcome to Poppins Palace. Come on in, let me give you a tour! I hope the motes didn't give you too much trouble...we've been working on them all week!

(Don't worry about taking your shoes off at the door, my carpet magically cleans itself every four hours.)

As you walk into the foyer you will see a big winding stair case to your right, a long hallway straight ahead and a den off to your left. Let's start with the den shall we? Great!

In the Poppins den you will see a vast array of bookshelves filled to the brim. You will see one bookshelf dedicated to Harry Potter and the Twilight  *Update* Hunger Games Series. This bookshelf is off limits. Do not touch or remove these books from the shelf or there will be penalties! However...do feel free to peruse the remaining bookshelves, especially the one directly to your left that holds all my published works. I'm so excited that Penguin Books *Update* Harper Teen decided to sign me! (Big Dreams)

As you can see, although it was sunny and warm before you entered my palace, the windows clearly state that it is raining. The weather did not change that quickly. Instead the windows in the den rain on a 24/7 basis to instill a calm and soothing atmosphere perfect for relaxation and reading. This room even smells spring fresh. Breath in a wiff....ahhhhhh....smell the fresh cut wet grass!

Moving along....Yes, I know...I find it hard to leave this room as well.

We will walk directly upstairs now to see the next relaxation room. The stairs were built centuries ago, but don't be nervous, they are very sturdy! I've tripped on them a few times myself through the years. These are unbreakable these stairs are!!!

You are now entering a large studio like room with one small room branching off to the right. As you can see the canopy bed holds at the very minimum 284 pillows (each is ALWAYS cold on both sides...) and has 3 down comforters covering it. For maximum sleeping potential the room becomes a steady 55 degrees every evening and white noise automatically sounds from the speakers above. The room darkens the minute you make contact with the pillows and the sunny windows again turn to rain. Its ingenious I tell you!

To the right you will see the bathroom. Feel free to stop in and take a moment to look around and if you need to use the facilities go ahead. Notice the LARGE whirlpool in the center of the room, complete with waterproof Kindle and surrounding candles. The speaker system has a large library of all music and at least 2494 different play lists to fit each mood. This bathroom is especially spectacular because like the carpets...it cleans itself.

If you would follow me down...hey you...don't you even thinking about stopping on my bed!!! Come now...follow the rest of us. You can grimace all you want, but this is MY palace!

Down the long hallway you will find 3 doors. One leads to a small boring but self cleaning bathroom. It would be ridiculous to walk upstairs every time you needed to go! Plus then you'd be tempted to take another bath and seriously....who needs like 4 baths a day! Talk about the wrinkled fingers!

So to your right is my kitchen. This room is not self cleaning, however it comes with 3 chefs and one maid that cleans up after them. Notice the 32 cupboards which house all my dishes, wine glasses, margarita glasses, martini glasses, etc. as well as the 10 by 10 walk in pantry where I can actually store all my food! Please don't pester the chefs, they are making my lunch!

(Did I mention that not only are they absolutely gorgeous, but they all speak with Brittish Accents as well?)

You'll see the dining area attached to your left here. This dark cherry red wood table is from 17th century and is scratch and stain resistant. Feel free to sit down if you are getting thirsty or hungry. I'm sure my 2nd chef can whip us up some quick cheesecake.

Well now that our bellies are full (who requested the cheese fries again....oh...*blushing* that was me wasn't it) Let us continue to the living room across the hall. OH I know it looks like a movie theater...but look, my computer desk is over there in the corner next to the big comfy couch, so I prefer to call this my living room. I've got connections so I have every movie imaginable, even the ones that just came out in the theater. Here put on these 3D glasses. Let's watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!

Thank you for visiting my happy place. I hope you enjoyed your tour. Please come back for dinner sometime. I taught my chef how to make my Alfredo sauce and I have a vintage 1940's bottle of Merlot in the cellar I've been dying to share! Maybe I can even show you the gardens or the tennis courts out side next time. There just isn't enough time in the day to do the outside AND inside of my happy place :) (Did I mention the pool boys have British accents to go with those rock hard abs too?)

Reading, Writing and......Harry Potter?

I don't think those would pass as the core classes at a school ... although they SHOULD!

No, this is what my weekend consisted of, in no particular order....

Aside from the usual grocery shopping (pay day Friday and all), errand running, finally having my daughter come back home and all the other completely boring things we accomplished over the weekend, I couldn't help but treat myself to a few of my favorite things. (Why yes...I did just sing that as I wrote the words. Don't lie, you know you did too!!!)

So I read 1 & 1/4 books. The first one I adored!!! Couldn't put it down. It was a murder mystery - and since I am incredibly impatient and can't stand NOT knowing who done it - I could not put down until the mystery had been solved. (Name of book to come later...how is THAT for a mystery!!!) The second one, the one I am having a hard time getting into, is the first in the "Sookie Stackhouse" series by Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark. (It's the series they based the show True Blood upon) I'm only 1/4 of the way into it, so I am sure I just haven't given it enough time, but I am having a rough time getting it to hold my attention. Has anyone else read this book? Did you have the same problem at first? Does it get better?

After an incredibly entertaining dream about parallel realities and the house I grew up in, (which incidentally my father posted the link to it that afternoon because it is now for rent! OMG WHAT did they do to my bedroom!!!) my mind once again began to swarm with ideas about a novel I had previously thought up. After spending two hours in bed writing the entire back story and then another hour or so online coming up with names to every character, then editing the prologue a bit AND writing the first page of the first chapter I am super excited to say I have a new novel in progress!!! Which is really good actually considering a really need a break from the first one.

And of course...on opening weekend...who could leave out Harry Potter! I knew my husband wanted to kinda see it, and I assumed my kids would enjoy it too. (Why I assumed a 4, 6, and 8 year old would enjoy a 2 1/2 hour movie is beyond me!) So I had this ingenious thought to go to the 11:25 showing on Sunday morning. It would be before noon -aka CHEEPER - and I figured who is going to want to go to an 11:25 am showing on a Sunday...that's Church time!! (um yeah....I just confessed to not going to Church didn't I....CRAP!) So at 11:10am we loaded the car up and hurried our butts to the theater. Shouldn't be a problem...right!?!? WRONG. We ended up sitting in the VERY FIRST row. The only one available with 5 seats. So as we craned our necks to watch the 2 1/2 hour movie I also took the time to make sure everyone's popcorn was refilled, drinks were shared properly, and each child stopped squirming in annoying ways as my husband enjoyed the movie. So with one squiggly/bored 4 year old in my lap, I was able to watch about 2/3rds of the entire movie, surprisingly without a neck ache! (Thank Goodness I saw the opening show a few days prior!)

And that was my weekend! How was yours? Exciting I hope!

***Read MORE about my new Story HERE!!!***