Category Archives: Harry Potter

Whatta Weekend

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Wow. This weekend rocked. It was filled to the brim with fun and friends. I actually had to come back to work to rest. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Heather and Barney were in town and came over for dinner on Friday night. While dinner was cooking (and Simeon, Barney, and Nick were downstairs playing video games, and Emery slept upstairs) Heather and I entertained Miss Lindsay. Lindsay knows where I keep all my “kid toys” and just loves to dig through them. I think mostly cause they are all “new to her” and not because I have some rockin’ good baby toys. (That would be kinda sad, wouldn’t it?) So as she dug through the toys she came across the Harry Potter glasses I got at the last release party. She instantly put them on and proceeded to wear them while she played. I think we have a future HP fan on our hands. Needless to say, Heather and I were ecstatic!


Saturday Simeon and I made plans to go wine tasting with Phil and Chelle. We started early and managed to hit five different wineries. Whew. The first couple places were mighty generous with their “samples” and I was starting to get nice and buzzed. Then we took some windy country roads that were not so pleasant from the back seat of my car. Only after getting stuck behind a smelly diesel truck did I start to rethink drinking in the daylight! But my tummy settled and we enjoyed some lovely fruits, cheeses, breads, salad and chicken for dinner. Mmmmmm. The Cazella’s know how to do wine tasting! Oh and don’t think we came home empty handed. Sim found some wines he could not live without!

Oh and just as a bonus, is this not the cutest picture of their little boy, Jacob? He went on the wine tasting tour with us and behaved like an angel. His only complaint was that he wasn’t allowed to share any of the wine with us! But he certainly made up for it by flirting with all the ladies.

Then we rounded out the weekend with more harvest celebrations. We had our 6th Annual Corn Maze/Pumpkin Patch event at Lakeview Farms. We marched through the corn maze, breathed in the smells of fresh kettle corn and caramel apples, and watched the kids faces light up with excitement as we took the boat across the lake to the pumpkin patch and loaded onto the train for the ride back. Emery even got to sport his adorable little “pumpkin” hat, which went perfectly with his chubby little cheeks. (Come on, what doesn’t go with those cheeks? Oh and how French does he look in that hat! Too cute!)

The we gathered everyone up and headed back to our house for our 8th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. I whipped up some snacks while the gang got to carvin’. Aaron sharpened our wits by reading Mind Trap puzzles aloud while we carved away. Simeon even made sure we had some spooky music in the back ground. All in all a perfect fall day. Here we all our sportin’ our creations.

Megan carved Charlie Brown & Snoopy, Barney created a spooky face, Simeon cut out an adorable candy corn, Heather did some creepy hands with eyes that peer out at you, and Nick, well he made the “Ghost of Ass” (sadly a long-running theme in Nick’s pumpkin carving career). Any guesses on what my pumpkin was?

You can see all the (hundreds of) pictures I took over the weekend in the galleries: Friday Night Visitors, Wine Tasting Tour and Pumpkin Patch/Carving. Enjoy all the fun photos. I sure had fun taking them!

The Leather Anniversary

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Today is our THIRD anniversary, and to commemorate the occasion my loving husband has more than out done himself. We were in desperate need of a new mattress, so we decided that would be an excellent gift to both of us. We have a way of justifying large purchased by associating them with the nearest holiday or occasion. “Happy early birthday, here is a new TV.” or “Happy Memorial Day! Let’s buy a couch!” So it only made sense that since we were buying a new bed only days before our anniversary that it would be our anniversary present.

In buying our bed, we made the decision to upgrade from a queen to a king. It’s the natural progression of things, really. Simeon would take over half of the bed and I was forced to share my portion with two very greedy and stubborn cats. I insisted that before we had children, who I can anticipate would also want to share our already tiny bed, we needed to take the jump.

Our bed came yesterday and it is quite possibly the largest thing I have ever seen. It’s not much longer than our old bed, and I anticipated the additional space we would need on either side, therefore moving our nightstands out about a foot on either side. I did not, however, realize how TALL this new bed would be. I think our previous bed must have been a midget and we now share our room with the largest of giants. It really is quite large. Once you factor in that it isn’t sagging in the middle, combined with the ever-so-plush pillow top, I practically need a step-stool to get into bed! But ohhh it’s SO worth it. Last night I slept soundly, I awoke with not an ache in my body, and I practically had to drag Simeon out of it come morning! I felt we had made a very wise anniversary purchase.

Well, I have just returned from our anniversary lunch (Olive Garden, thankyouverymuch) in which my husband waltzed out to the car and presented me with quite possibly the cutest pink gift bag. I was shocked (mostly because I am usually the one who sneaks presents when we have decided there will be none). And he was very excited to point out that he, “even bought a card!” I waited until we got to the restaurant to open my present to find that he bought me the new iPod nano. But wait. There is more. That is just the TIP of the iceberg. He also bought me the (iTunes exclusive) complete Harry Potter series and loaded it all onto my new tiny iPod nano. That’s right. The first six book all in one tiny place. Well, 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 inches to be more specific. Oh yeah, I am the most spoiled woman. Ever. I really don’t deserve him, but he keeps reminding me of reasons why I cannot possibly imagine life without him. I love you, Pie.

My Birthday Parties

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Ok, so I know my birthday was practically a week ago, but what fun would it be if I only celebrated for a day and moved on? No thank you! So I wanted to share the photos that I finally uploaded (with Sim’s help, since we needed a new program to actually get them onto my site.) from the two parties we had.

The first was primarily family, with a few die-hard friends who could actually make it (I love you guys the mostest!), a few of them for only a few minutes as they had to return to work or had another commitment. But my family hung out and everyone got silly and surprisingly everyone behaved! (Now I know most families have dysfunction, but mine sometimes a little more than most, as we are filled with all sorts of drama that prevents us all from gathering in the same place without having at least one person scream obscenities while someone else bursts into tears. Hey, it happens.)

Then on Wednesday we continued to celebrate my birthday (in a drastic attempt to rid my house of cake!) with our near and dear friends. We had the die-hards who rarely miss a week (Nick and Megan), some we were surprised to see (David and Jason), and some we are welcoming back into our circle with open-arms (Jen and Mitch). It was a great balance. The boys busted out the video games and played foos ball while us girls browsed through photos (Lindsay is just too cute not to share!) and talked. It was perfect.

Oh yeah, and my loving husband bought me a Harry Potter birthday cake, complete with a Harry figurine and “Tom Riddle’s Diary” you can actually write on. It doesn’t get any better than that! There are a few more pictures in the Carrie’s Birthday Parties gallery.

I’m clumsy…and other reasons why you love me

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I just went into the bathroom and as I walked into the stall, knocked my shoulder directly into the door frame. Ouch. Then proceeded, moments later, to choke on just air. *Sigh* But at least I didn’t get sprayed this time.

So I have finished all my blog reading for the day. I haven’t done that in a long time. Now I just keep cycling through my fave reads to see if any of you have updated, but you haven’t. Clearly everyone else has a life and I do not. Things are just slow here in the summer time. Which really sucks, because as soon as I leave work I have a million things to do and rarely am able to get through them all.

This is rather evident by my very over-grown yard. Well, that is not entirely true. Husband mows the lawn, but more often than not the task of weeding and anything remotely considered “gardening” falls into my lap. And oh how I loathe gardening. I just don’t get why so many people like it. I mean, first of all, its outside, and its HAWT out there. The sun and I do not get along. Then you go and throw in the getting dirty part. Ewww. I am not a fan of the bugs either. And don’t even get me started on all the spider webs (spiders I could stand, cause they keep all the other bugs in check, but the webs really creep me out). Oh well, maybe its one of those things you grow into. Like enjoying your vegetables. Hmmmm. If thats the case, I may never appreciate it.

On the more exciting and geeky front, (less on the whiney front, sorry about all that) we are spicing up our Wednesday Night dinner this week. Thats right, we are taking the show on the road. We are going to Mississippi Pizza to catch a Harry and the Potters show. How freakin’ cool is that?? They sing songs about the books. They are absolutely dorky and adorable at the same time. You can listen to a few of their songs here. I think Save Ginny Weasley is my personal favorite. Sim and I actually caught ourselves singing it in the car this morning. God, I love that my husband appreciates all my geekiness. Its not quite the caliber of his, and a bring something a little different to the table, but we are quite the pair, are we not?

Wow. I mean, wow.

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Whew! So I finally finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Well, I actually finished last night but there was no way I was going to be able to blog about it. I was reeling. My head was spinning. (Not to mention the fact that I could hardly focus my eyes from reading for two days straight.)


As you can see, I made it to the Midnight Magic Party. I had such a fabulous time. Sometimes indulging your inner-child is really the key to totally enjoying yourself. But then it’s also good to indulge the grown-up in you and enjoy Happy Hour at T.G.I. Friday’s.


Yep. That is in fact a lightening bolt “scar” on Simeon’s forehead. You know, with his messy spiked hair, glasses, and of course, the scar he really is like my own Harry Potter. Hee hee hee.

Well kiddies, it’s getting late, so I better get to bed. But if you are in the mood for some more fun stuff, there are more pictures in the HP Midnight Magic Party gallery. Oh and I almost forgot!! I have pictures of our Flooring Project as well. ‘Night!!

Thinking…

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…Is it possible for my bladder to suddenly shrink? Cause I swear I have gone pee like six times this morning. Since I have been at work. And I have only drank one of my Dasani 1 liter bottles. What am I going to do if I ever actually get pregnant? Will I have to resort to working from the bathroom?

…watching Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban on the BIG SCREEN last night was amazing. It was a little hard to adjust to at first, but before long I was totally enthralled in the story. And I actually picked up on some details I didn’t notice the first five or six times I watched the movie.

…my Husband, being the dreamboat that he is, walked over to the Barnes and Noble we are going to for the Harry Potter Midnight Magic party and reserved copies of HPATHBP for me and all of my friends who are accompanying me. I realize he already deserves the Husband of the Year award for listening to me go on and on about all things Harry Potter. Good thing some of my friends are equally obsessed, or he would never get a break!

…I am going to the library today to get some more books on tape to listen to while Simeon and I commute back and forth to work. I have been trying to introduce him to all the books I loved over the years. We have listened to some classics (My Side of the Mountain, Bridge to Terabithia, Tuck Everlasting) some silly ones (Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, James & the Giant Peach) and we are on the waiting list for some others (The Chronicles of Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, Where the Red Fern Grows). Are there some I am missing? He hardly read anything growing up, and I spent the majority of my youth with my nose in a book. What are some of your favorites that you read while growing up?? (Keep in mind, we are trying to read light, easy books that are easy to keep getting interrupted since that happens so often in the car that is from Arizona Sedan and Limousine, as well as be easy to just jump back into without a lot of refreshing your memory.)

Random Thoughts

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My brain is overwhelmed today with all sorts of different things to blog about, and since I am feeling very A.D.D. today, I am just gonna do them all, rather than pick one and go with it. Brace yourself for all the randomness as it flows from my brain:

I am totally ready for the latest Harry Potter book to be released. In fact, I have a whole series of HP events this week to help pass the time. This evening a group of us (yes, all adults) are going to watch Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban at the Omnimax Theater. Then on Friday we are attending the Midnight Magic Party at Barnes and Noble. (You can find a HP Party near you by country, state, city, etc. here. Very, VERY cool.) Then I plan to go home and spend the remainder of the weekend reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Today I have a lunch date with Dodo, Heather and of course, Miss Lindsay. Ahhh, I love being one of the Ladies Who Lunch. It definitely helps pass the time.

I have been really busy lately and I haven’t had the opportunity to clean my house this week. Or do laundry. Or even cook a meal. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I went to the grocery store. My husband is going to leave me for sure. That is if I can find him behind all the take-out boxes and piles of dirty laundry….

My birthday is getting closer and closer (17 days and counting, Erin!!). For my present this year Simeon (with the help of his father and brother) are tearing up the carpet, linoleum, and old wood flooring on the main level of our house, to be replaced with a lovely laminate flooring. I am simultaneously excited and terrified. I love the idea of the wood flooring, what with animals and potential children being the mess-makers that they are (oh and husbands too I guess), but the process of installing the flooring is giving me mini anxiety attacks. I mean, we have to find a place to put all the stuff while we remove the current flooring. That includes my living room, dining room, and kitchen. There will be couches, tables and a refrigerator wandering around my house!! I don’t even know how to prepare for this. Any one who has been through this before, feel free to toss any tips into the comments.

My shoulders and knees are killing me lately. And there is only so much Advil a girl can take (well, my doctor assures me that I am well WELL within the safe limits and the probability of the bleeding ulcers is really minimal at my age. Grrrrrreat). The really sick thing is, a combination of doctors and a multitude of test have only proven that I am a very healthy woman. Perfect bones, excellent joints, superb mobility. Which to me means that there is nothing they can do to help me out. Nothing. One would think its just part of getting older and whatnot, but hello!! I am only 24. Ok, practically 25. This is just a tad young to feel this much pain. It’s not like I’m 80. Or even 40. I’m freakin’ 24 and it sometimes takes me as long to get out of bed, or up from my chair, as my 75 year old Grandma. Urgh. Pure frustration. Oh and the advice I get from my doctor? “Don’t do things that make it worse and take Advil when it hurts.” Really? Ya think?! So, then do you think that when I don’t want to get out of bed tomorrow, I can say its because my doctor told me not to?? Yeah, me neither.*Sigh*

It seems that everyone needs to have their own “Cheers.” You know, a place where you walk in and “everybody knows your name.” For Simeon, it’s the Starbucks by his office. He can pretty much be found over there at 10am and 3pm DAILY. He takes his breaks and walks over their. It gets him out of his office and clears his head. So they all know him. We walk in and they holler to him and know his drinks (there are a couple he rotates between) by heart. Its much more comforting and less creepy than it sounds. Well, I have found my own place like that. Noah’s Bagels. In fact I walked in yesterday to “Hey Carrie!” and “Feeling like a mocha or just coffee today?” (I opted for the coffee. Their Chelsea blend is to die for!) Then as I proceeded to check out, my two favorite gals had an adorable conversation about which one of them was my friend first and who knows me better. What an excellent start to the day. You gotta love it when people are fighting over who likes you more, right?

Ok. I think I am done. But no guarantees, ok? 😉

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans

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During lunch a few of us ladies were chatting in the lunchroom and the topic turned to Harry Potter’s Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. As it turns out one of the girls had just picked up a box with some of the new flavors (spaghetti, earthworm, etc.) and we were discussing how something can be both gross and good at the same time. Then one of the girls said she had never even heard of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans (I know! What rock has she been under??). So we said she totally needed to try one. We randomly dumped one bean out of the box for her to try. It was so fun to watch her trying to guess the flavor as we giggled with glee. Needless to say she got sardine! Once she finally managed to swallow all of it the room was instantly filled excitement:

“Do it again!”

“Ooooh! Try another one!”

“One more! Come on! One more!”

Ahhh its the little things that really help me make it through the day. That and knowing I am not the only one with a Harry Potter obsession. Heh.

Ten Indications that I May be Obsessed with Harry Potter

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1. While scrubbing potatoes last night, I was tempted to try a nice “Scourgify” spell.

2. I walked around with “Weasley is our King” (the Gryffindor version, of course!) stuck in my head all day yesterday.

3. While getting ready this morning, my husband, totally out of the blue, asked me, “So everyone knows that he is back now, right?” And I totally knew he was talking about Voldemort.

4. After dinner last night the conversation turned to how many O.W.L.s we thought Harry would get this summer.

5. I have actually dreamt about the long corridor that leads to the Department of Mysteries.

6. I check J.K. Rowling’s site daily to look for updates, information, and of course, to see if the door is open.

7. I think to myself “what a Muggle” when someone doesn’t know what I am talking about.

8. Whenever someone says “I have a few things to say.” I always think “Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”

9. I have had a Harry Potter party and created my own recipes for Butterbeer, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Cockroach Clusters, and Chocolate Frogs. Mmmmmmm!

10. I have July 16th marked on the calendar and there is to be NOTHING planned that entire weekend. (If you have to ask why, you clearly are not obsessed with Harry Potter….)

The door! THE DOOR!!

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Ok, I am all a flutter. My face is flushed and my heart is beating really fast. What is causing this to happen to me? The door is open again on J.K. Rowling’s site! And this time with the help of my IM buddies (thanks Simeon and Nick) we figured it out! I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who like to figure it out on your own, so I won’t tell you what to do unless you ask. (Feel free to ask anytime you need help!) I just have one more thing to say:

OH. MY. GOD.

(What are you waiting for? Go! GO!)