Twilight and a busy weekend!

TWILIGHT ........

What an amazing night. Thursday night, I was involved with a HUGE Twilight party put on by a couple of my friends in Sunndyside. There were about 140 people at Bon Vino's (a nice restaurant in Sunnyside) for this event, of all different ages. As I said in an earlier post, I got to go to this party without paying for a ticket because I was "working" - and truly I did! It was a blast! I helped check people in, do the raffle drawings and trivia, and more. Natalie and Erin did such a good job planning this event, and the crowd had a ball.


Me with "Edward and Bella"!

So- part of it was going to the midnight showing of the movie- it was so fun to be in such a charged atmosphere- with so many Twilight fans (though the giggling 8th graders behind us were interesting . . . ). The best was being there with friends.

Natalie and Reagran (above), and Me and Tiffanie (below). . .





So- my thoughts on the movie . . .
I have mixed feelings. It was a great movie and followed the book really well- and there was good chemistry between Edward and Bella. In that was it was great- and of course, it is fun to see the story visualized. I found the movie to be quite scary and creepy- including Edward!! At first that bothered me- but then I remembered that is how the first book is. You aren't sure if Edward is going to kill Bella or not, and he seems to be always angry. It is exactly this way in the book and the movie. Sooo- I had a hard time liking Edward - - and honestly, he wasn't good looking enough and was more grunge than old fashioned. By the end of the movie he grew on me, though. Most all the other characters were perfect- Bella, Jacob, Charlie, Alice, Jasper, James and Victoria . . . I think the other thing that was hard for me is that the Cullens as a whole looked more creepy than beautiful, with their pale faces. Truly, though, I don't know how it could have been done differently! The special effects were also a bit cheesy, and a few details were off. Having just gone to Forks, and being familiar with the demographics and scenery- it was obvious to me it was filmed in the Portland, OR area instead of in Forks (which I understand why). Shots of the Columbia gorge are frequent. There was also way too much diversity in Forks High school (even among the main characters- Eric and Angela are Asian, and Tyler Crowley who almost hits her with the van is a black kid with an earring)- in reality it is mostly white or Native American kids. In the movie- there was a lot of everything- so to me it looks like an inner city Portland school. But- they were minor details . . . and truly the feel of the movie mirrors the book exactly. I am excited to see it a second time - - usually movies that are made of my favorite books are better the second time around. This is how I felt about all of the Harry Potter movies - - once I got used to how the movie makers represent the book - - I liked it a whole lot more.

I do have to say one more thing about the movie AND the books. There is a part of me that is bugged about the sensuality in the story, and worries about youth reading these books. From a romantic view point - - it is a WONDERFUL story and "nothing" really happens - - but they sure do get close to it. Details like Edward coming into Bella's room, kissing on her bed and some things that happen in the later books make me a bit uneasy. I wish that detail had been kept in line with the book - that Edward first kisses Bella just after they leave the clearing in the woods- to me that would have been so much better than him kissing her for the first time in her room. In reality- there is NO such guys as Edward, no matter how noble or self disciplined they think they are. They key to staying "good" is to not put yourself in those situations - - the situations that Bella and Edward constantly are in throughout the the books. If I had a teenager reading these books, or seeing the movie - - I would want to have a long conversation with them about how unrealistic it is, and that is why we are taught not only to wait to be intimate until marriage, but also to not be in situations where it could easily happen. Anyway- that little note put aside, I love the romance and fantasy of it - - and their first kiss was amazing and romantic! I also appreciate how clean it is compared to other movies.

On to the rest of the weekend - - I was, of course, pretty tired on Friday after being up most of the night. I did have a wonderful time staying the night with the kids at Reagran's- even though the kids got up in the middle of the night when we got back from the movie. We survived, though- and it was so worth it. Thanks, Reagran for letting me unload on you- physically and emotionally! It was so needed.

Friday afternoon and all day Saturday I was involved with a Christmas Bazaar- I set up a little Pampered Chef "booth" along with other vendors (people who sold Discovery toys, Sensaria, Sentsy, etc) at someone's house. It ended up being great- I got some sales and shows booked! Yay! I will actually get to do some more Pampered Chef! It did make for a long weekend for Jon, though - - since he had the kids. He survived, and I am truly grateful to him.