True Blood Ep 3

Pros - You get to see Alcide and he is quite adorable
Cons - A majority of the remainder of the episode

I love Talbot and his... umm... persuasion. He brought much more humor to the previous episode but was still great. Can Jason quit seeing bullet holes in everyone's head, please? Really, this isn't needed and is yet another unnecessary stretch away from the book. Eric, Jessica, Lafayette, and Pam... I love you more than bunnies on fire!!! The characters and the actors that play them rock hard.

Another con... this was a weak episode all around and you show this before a break??? Seriously??? When you take a break in a show, you should leave viewers wanting and craving more! Episode 2 would have been a great place for a break because it had humor, great plot movement, and an awesome cliffhanger for the next week. Episode 3 just seemed jumbled, excess, and left you with a blah/ meh feeling. And we have two weeks of that blah feeling to stew with. Not good! This is all because of the holiday (July 4th) there is no new episode, so instead they will be playing the 2 great episodes and 1 bleh episode as filler until it returns on the 11th.

And the ending... really??? seriously??? NO NO NO!!! I would have been much happier if they would have kept to the book as to how Bill ends up in Mississippi. I cannot stand Lorena, but I would have been much happier with her torturing Bill (like it is in the book) rather than both of them being guests of the King and  milling around and... doing that at the end of the episode!!! Was it really necessary? Absolutely not! And it is something I do not think I can erase from my mind.

I hope they put some awesome things to keep us interested during the break either on HBO's site or Jessica's blog. Oooh maybe Jessica can have Pam over for a girly night in and blog/ vlog it. That would be fantastic!!!

In other news, for this episode, I made blueberry coffee cake. Sadly, I did not get a picture of it because it was eaten that fast. Plus I was having a bad reaction to a pain pill so I was feeling quite under the weather at that point.

Food I made for True Blood Episode 2

This week I decided to try out some new recipes. The orange rolls are more of a breakfast item, but I think they sound fantastic anytime of the day. They are in fact absolutely delightful.

The second item I made was S'mores cupcakes. This recipe has a graham cracker bottom with some grated chocolate on top of that, then comes the chocolate cake batter and is topped with more graham cracker crumbs. After everything is all baked, you top it with some homemade marshmallow.

Fresh out of the oven!!!

Waiting for the topping.

Topped with yummy marshmallow sweetness.

I had too much batter so I made some mini chocolate cupcakes.

And like everything else I made, I had way too much of the marshmallow mixture so I topped the mini cupcakes as well.

 And I still had more to use, so I dropped it on some paper for quick divinity.

True Blood Party!!!

So... as many of you (at least those that know me on Facebook) know I threw a Season 3 premier party on Sunday for True Blood. Yes I am a geek and I take pride in that moniker! Below are some pictures of the food that I made. But I do love how the goodies turned out and everything was yummy. My friends that joined me laughed at how much I did for just a simple gathering, but I really enjoyed going through all the fuss. I can be artsy in a pinch and love doing simple but memorable things.

Here are some pictures...

Fangbanger cupcakes!!!

 Here is a better pic at the pictures I used to decorate them.

Blood and Chocolate cookies

Yes even the cookies had some promo pictures to decorate them ;)

 And a picture of the spread (minus the chocolate covered strawberries)

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On a separate and unrelated note... my owl, Stig, who has been patiently waiting for me to finish wrapping and placing everything the box, will be taking flight tomorrow morning to deliver a kit to Madam Ferula McGonagall. Yes, it is way past the time I had set out to get it in the mail, but my personal life sort of spiraled and got super chaotic for a bit. Things are better, but could be greatly improved.

Anyways... here is a preview ;)

Persephone Has Arrived from Italy!!!

I heard this chirruping noise and a light pecking on our glass/screen door. When I opened it I saw a wonderful, but extremely tired owl, her little chest what moving quite fast from her journey. I am amazed that Persephone lugged the large (and heavy)  box all the way from Italy to Illinois. Needless to say, she is thrilled to be inside and out of the heat as well as munching on some owl treats. Once the owl was situated, I tended to the wondrous box from Hermione.

This is what greeted me upon opening the box!

Once unpacked I had quite the spread on the couch!

The card that I was to open first was absolutely lovely! You totally rock the handmade cards Hermione:D

Since I have OCD tendencies and love order (to an extent). I sorted the packages by the store's they came from.

I decided to start off with Flourish & Blotts.

How awesome! Always good to be able to defend yourself from others. This book contained several sock patterns from my queue and favorites. Such as the Seduction Sock seen below.

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Also enclosed from Flourish & Blotts was an adorable journal and some bookmarks. I love bookmarks!!! I read so much I tend to never have enough bookmarks :)

I really doubt that she found this at Flourish, but however she did manage to get her hands on it... I am thoroughly grateful to have Snape's copy of Advanced Potion Making (including the notes in the margins). This book contains so many wonderful potions (recipes) to brew!!! I cannot wait to start making some.

A wonderful and aged page from the Potions book!!! This is too awesome for words! :D

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From Flourish & Blotts I moved onto the packages from Olivander.

I received a 32" size US2 (my fav size for socks) circ to learn magic loop on. Now I only need to find a teacher ^_^  She also sent me a wand with the Death Eater symbol on it made by Meladia Starseeker. I love the wand so very much!

Here is a better picture of the beautiful wand!!! It is so very perfect. I can't wait to start casting with it!

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Next I opened the packages that came from Gladrags Wizard Wear

I received a lovely green and super soft cowl for the cooler months, and some lovely fingerless mittens out of the same plush yarn. Hermione also sent some fantastic flip flops that are super comfy with the covered straps. 

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Hermione also went shopping at the apothecary in Diagon Alley. 

During her travels she picked up some flavored Extravirgin Olive Oil in truffle, mushroom, basil, lemon, and chili pepper flavors. I cannot wait to try these with some bread.

I got some wonderful cotton fingering weight yarn in a lovely green and a rich black. I am sure that the colors were something Snape wore on a regular basis. I can't wait to get knitting with them.

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Next I opened the items that came from Wonder Witch that she picked up from WWW. 

So many adorable items! A pouch filled with pins and stickers. The pins are of the Slytherin emblem, Snape, a death eater, my ref jersey, my ravatar, and my facebook "pic".  The death eater stickers are way too cute! Included was also a pair of bat earrings for Snape. I also received a beautiful Venetian glass snake pendant necklace that she also picked up on her travels. It is absolutely lovely, in fact I have it on right now :)

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The final grouping was from Borgin and Burke's. Hard to believe that a Ravenclaw managed to end up in Knockturn Alley, let alone at that store. 

A yummy pumpkin spice candle, one of my all time favorite scents no matter the time of year. I also got two "cup socks" for my caffeine fixes. The stitch markers are so lovely! Gorgeous beads and Dark Mark charms. I love them!!! I love stitch markers and they will be put to use. :)

Last but certainly not least is this too beautiful for words Venetian mask. I will be wearing this during masquerades! I love it so very much! It really will go so well with my ball gowns and the detail is absolutely exquisite!!! I really am looking forward to wearing it! :D

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Upon opening the letter that contained details of the items I received, one more thing was waiting for me... death eater tattoos!!! I can not wait to put one on! lol They are so groovy! You really thought of everything, didn't you?

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Thank you so very very very (insert infinitive very) much Hermione! I am absolutely astounded by this Severus Snape kit. Everything is wonderful and completely, absolutely amazing!!! The Potions book alone must have taken forever to compile. I am so looking forward to using/ wearing/ making everything that you have sent in my kit. You rock!!! You rock so very hard!!! :D

Books!!! Squee :D

If you have seen my Shelfari virtual bookshelf, you know that I like to read. Well this past month has been no different. I read the five books of Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson series. From there I moved onto the two books of the Alpha and Omega series, which is an off shoot of the Thompson series. I love these (obviously). The characters are amazing, the plot moves, and the books leave you fulfilled but wanting more.

I also read the new Vampire Academy book. I really do love this series but I hate how they just end and then you have to wait 6-12 months for the next one to get released. The books move along beautifully but BAH I hate the waiting game!

Hunted - from The House of Night series follows the same suit. This book was probably the most stagnant and whiny of the series so far. I really enjoyed the others, but this one just felt dead for the most part. I will read the next one too simply for the fact that like with VA, it just cut off! Ooooh it really is frustrating.

I read Club Dead (book 3 Sookie Stackhouse series) in about 12 hours. That book was so nummy. I have read the series, but I wanted to re-read book 3 since Season 3 will be starting on the 13th. I just didn't exactly expect to read through it that fast. I am re-reading book 4 right now.

The next book I am super excited to read is Bullet from the Anita Blake series. It just came out on the 1st and I have not picked it up yet. However I have read a bit about the book through the writer's blog. I am thrilled that Anita will be back in St. Louis. This means that there will  be more of Jean Claude and Asher (yummy) in this book! About time :) The past few books she was away from the city on her own escapades. While those books were fabulous, I missed the guys.

And then at the end of this month the fifth Blue Bloods month... oh I can't wait to read that book. The series is a completely different but interesting twist on vampirism.

Okay... enough book talk for now ;)