Eclipse Movie Premiere Party

Once everything got back to normal I threw an Eclipse Movie

Premiere Party so I could see all my cute girlfriends and catch up

with them. The movie was coming out and I had missed the

movie party they had thrown last year because I was here....

So I volunteered to host this years, shin dig.

Im not really a die hard fan of the twilight series

but I am a big fan of themed parties (if you haven't noticed yet)

I did my best to do the party my style and not make it too cheesy.

P.S. If you are not a fan of the Twilight series I don't really want

to hear about it. You can just not read this post or not comment.

easy enough.

drink bar.

cause we all know that good vampires

are "vegetarians" (animal blood instead of human)

vampire or werewolf cupcakes.

I tried to include all of the objects on the book covers up till

Eclipse.

We also did vampire makeovers and a photoshoot.

Inspired by the photographer I interned for in NY

Sarah Silver and the shoot she did on America's Next Top Model.

(but a little less bloody)

Thanks Angie and Laura for having such amazing make-up skills

and for sharing your talent with us all.

Then it was time to get in our seats at the movie

(a few of our sweet (and very macho) husbands (included, was

my amazing man) went early to the movie theater to save our

group some seats) Ladies waiting in line wanted to take pictures

with our guys, they couldn't believe that this supportive

of men existed. haha. Everybody grabbed a gift bag

on their way out.

black and red candies, vampire and werewolf themed treats. and a CD,

I was a big fan of the mixed tape gift when I was young, I guess I have just

graduated to CD's.

We still had quite a bit of time to kill before the movie started so

Kitch and I entertained ourselves with one of our favorite activities,

silly pictures.

Then Kitch started yelling out themes and

we did the first face that came to mind. I took this series

from her blog. I giggle whenever I see them. I guess we

pretty much are all werewolf fans.

curious what was on the CD?

(actually I don't remember exactly but something

like this)

Total Eclipse of The Heart- Bonnie Tyler

Animal- Neon Trees

Cold As Ice- Foreigner

Bella- Jacks Waterfall

Falling Away with you- Muse

Apocalypse please- Muse

Hungry Like the Wolf- Duran Duran

She Wolf- Shakira

Giving up the Gun- Vampire Weekend

Twilight- Future of Forestry

Mr. Brightside- the killers

Beautiful- Smashing pumpkins

What part of Forever- Cee Lo Green

Eclipse of the Heart Remix- Diva DJs vs Nicki French

a year behind, please be kind.

N.O, L.A May 2011

Just to let you know, I have been playing catch up with

all the pics from our 2010 India, Cambodia, Bali, Hong Kong trip

which really was slow going and got me super behind. But

I plan on continuing to post the rest of my 2010 activities in

chronological order, before I get into my 2011 events.

I eventually want to (using blurb) publish all my posts into

a book. (most likely, into a series of books)

Im intending on these books being my main form

of journaling during this time in my life. I hope to get all caught up

and into posting current events by September, where then

the husband and I will temporarily move to

Geneva.

I will then starting organizing the blog books during the time Im

hanging out in our rented swiss apartment

while Reece is at work fulfilling his Internship.

Weekend breaks will be taken to explore the

neighboring areas and countries. I hope to still be

posting current events during these times and to share

where we go.

Im excited to get caught up and then to venture out

again.

Till then, enjoy 2010- summer 2011 with me. It was all super fun

the first time around so I know its going to be amazing living it

all again through the following posts.

Coming home

We finally flew home! we had a layover in Japan which was just long enough

for us to get all our favorite treats, then took the direct from Tokyo to SLC UT!

The days after coming home from a trip are always a daze, cleaning,

photo organizing, and trying to get back into eating and sleeping

normally. I then had to start teaching summer block classes just

a few days after our return. Summer classes have such a different

feel, meeting everyday 4 days a week can feel rushed but, I do

adjust by omitting a full assignment and both write up assignments.

Durning the open lab times I started reading one of my favorite authors,

a book I thought was perfect for what I had just experienced.

It was so fun reading Around the World in 80 days,

the characters follow the path Reece and I took very closely.

NY to Paris (we didnt stop off in Paris but we do have fond

memories of traveling there together), then India (where they

rode elephants), to Hong Kong then to Japan, San Francisco,

and SLC where the mormons are mentioned. And we can

attest to the gain in time when traveling around the world in

that direction. So fun to connect with Jules Verne that way.

Although it took us a year to get around to it,

we finally gave my family the souvenirs that we got them on this

epic trip. Marionette dolls from Cambodia in traditional dancing

costumes, and Ali baba pants from India.

My nieces really got into trying on and modeling all

of the pants I brought for them to choose from.

(yes this happened at a family sunday dinner at my parents

where evenings aren't complete without doing some kind of

craft with yarn, thus the balls of yarn on everybody's laps)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was our last stop before returning home, we only had two

days to see what we could and it was super rushed. We did have a few frustrating

moments with getting lost, the shopping not being as authentic as we had heard,

and the haggling at the jade market taking way too long. Guess Hong Kong

Disney will have to wait till another time in the future, we put the more

unique sights in priority but we did still think it would be fun to see all the disney

parks in the world, we absolutely loved Tokyo Disney.

Im also pretty bummed that we weren't able to get a blue plate

for our collection, I might be particularly bitter about it since Hong Kong

is a huge contributor to blue and white China being in the world today.

But, we will just have to stop by again in the future.

Here is our room, the view of the harbor and skyline was incredible.

Taken through our window.

Our first morning we had Dim sum for breakfast,

those little ladies with the carts passed by so fast you

had to act fast. I was so happy they had my favorite,

pork filled buns.

took the ferry across the harbor.

rode moving sidewalks through the city.

and finally after some wandering we found the special

temple known for its hundreds of coiled incense donated by

patrons, It was supper hot and very smokey but I still

spent a ton of time photographing inside.

Tested out their subways.

The signs telling people not to eat totally

reminded me of Japan.

We then went to a Zoo/aquarium/amusement park in the mountains.

We loved all the different species of animals we saw in the ueno zoo in

Tokyo and we were excited to see what China had.

The bird houses were amazing.

Red pandas and otters are my absolute favorites.

look at that face?

that park was so big you needed to take a Tram to the other side of the

mountain.

Then we ate at this amazing floating restaurant

Then we made sure we had a good seat for the

evening light show. The skyline would flash their exterior

lights synchronized to music that was played at all the harbor parks.

AMAZING.

Then a fancy (gilded) dessert in our room before bed.

Our second day was venturing to the Jade market and

wandering through all the local food markets. Saw

some pretty interesting stuff.

I love that reece encouraged me to finagle and buy

a vintage rolleiflex camera where all its markings were

in Kanji.

The clouds were amazing over the harbor but we wanted to see the

view from the famous Victoria point where unfortunately the mountain

top was always covered with clouds. Finally late our last night we decided to

chance it. The fog was heavy but was moving swiftly so we could

get good views every once in awhile.

My favorite building on the left, Reece's favorite on the right.

Reece's building was the star of the show during the Symphony

of lights show.