Happy Halloween Office Style

Whoa.

We may not go as far as The Office but it's still fun.

Everybody in their outfits

I was Harry Potter :)  Quidditch style of course.

Yes, I attached a paper Snitch to my bracelet with a barrette

We also decorate cubicles for Halloween.

So Happy Halloween everyone!

Potter Post 2 1/16

Ok, so I know it's not Saturday yet but I'll be out of town until Sunday night so I won't be able to do a Potter Post.  Instead I leave you with this:

Halloween at my office

The Short Hair Chronicles

I cut my hair.  No, not just cut.  Got it chopped off.  Gone.

Told ya!

Cutting your hair short changes a lot of things.  A heck of a lot more than I realized it would.  Thus, a mini-blog series begins.

The first and most noticeable about about cutting your hair super short is other people's reactions.  Once you've cut that much hair off, you're already pretty nervous about how it will be received and if you're like me you feel like everybody is staring at you everywhere you go saying things like "Oh my goodness!!! Her hair is so short!"

To be honest, I was not crazy about my haircut.  Maybe I had visions of stepping out of the salon looking like Emma Watson...but considering I am not Emma Watson-that didn't happen.  So walking out with my super short do was a little nerve wracking to say the least.  You have to introduce your new haircut to so many groups of people.  First, there is your family.  Then your friends.  Then your roommates.  Then your coworkers.  Then your church.  Each time is accompanied with a sense of dread.  Will they like it? Will they hate it?  I had a dinner with an old friend tonight who I haven't seen years...he had no idea I just got my hair cut and therefore didn't realize and opinion needed to be made---it was refreshing.

Some people don't care for my cut.  Others love it.  Me?  I'm starting to love it.  It's really starting to grow on me and I'm slowly falling in serious like with it and I love the fact that I can't get it to do the same thing with it twice since it apparently has a complete mind of it's own.

Oh?  So what does it look like?

Potter Post 1 7/8 -When Harry Left Hogwarts

Good morning!
       
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that they didn't try to come up with a new name for the eighth film?) comes out on DVD on November 11 and with it comes a documentary.

Documentary?  You mean those boring, long movies about nothing?  No. First of all I love a good documentary--or mockumentary for that matter.  Secondly, this ones seems to have a real spirit behind it.

Morgan Matthew was granted access behind the scenes on the last two films in the Harry Potter series and judging from the trailer below, he seems to have really caught the insecurities and humbleness of the title characters.  For Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, these movies have been their life and now they've been released into the world.  Sure, Harry Potter has been my life as well, but I'm not in the spotlight.  The world is watching them.

Check out the trailer below:

떡볶이 Tteokbokki=best food ever.

 Last night we went out for my good friend's birthday, Hwayeon (she's beyond awesome) and ate Korean food :)

I love Korean food.  It's easily becoming my favorite food.  But for me, the cream of the crop is Tteobokki (Ddeokbokki).  It's spicy, fishy, and squishy.

So what is it?  It's a spicy rice cake dish

No! Not that kind!

This kind:

When cooked it becomes something similar to the dumplings you would find in Chicken-N-Dumplings, only thicker and cylinder shaped. 

The rice cakes are served with fishcakes (don't let the name deter you from something amazing) and some veggies all in a wonderful spicy sauce. For a great recipe check out this blog Migi's Kitchen: How to make the best Tteok Bok Kki

If you don't feel up to the challenge, find a good Korean restaurant or friend and eat up--or call me and we'll go together ;-)

State Fair Cupcake!

It's that time.  The State Fair here (which to us Raleigh people means doing some serious rerouting while driving to avoid the traffic).  It's time for turkey legs, fried EVERYTHING, Italian Sausages, vinegar fries...and of course: Candy Apples.

So in the spirit of the season I have a new cupcake to introduce you to.

Meet Caramel Apple Cameron Cupcake (as you know, I try to name all my cupcakes after people or fictional characters--this one is named after my brother)

A delicious granny smith apple cake with salted caramel buttercream frosting topped with crushed peanuts.  A bite of the state fair available year round!

Potter Post 1 2/3

So what is Harry Potter up to these days?

No not that one. (And again if you have no idea what this picture is in reference too.  I'm sad for you.  Send me a message and we'll fix this.)

But in case you're wondering what Harry Freakin Potter from AVPM is up to-- he's being pretty busy being totally awesome.  Check it out here:

But I'm talking about Daniel Radcliffe.   Currently he's on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (which ironically enough-Darren Criss--our Harry from above--will be taking over the role early next year for three weeks).  I hear it is quite good and I regret I won't be able to see it. 



But he'll be starring in the UK horror movie set to release this coming February--his first film since Harry Potter.  It's called Woman in Black (NOT The Woman in White my fellow literature people)...check out the preview:

And there is this trailer which is decidedly creepy.  I watched it sitting alone in my apartment in the daylight while waiting on cupcakes to bake and it still sent shivers down my spine:

Happy Saturday!

Candy Corn Season!

Yup.  It's that time.  The time when the candy corn emerges from his dark slumber and begins his gradual take over of America.  I'll be honest.  I eat an ungodly amount of candy corn during the month of October--I don't touch it the rest of the year--but October is candy corn month.  So here are some fun facts about candy corn!

-19 pieces equals 140 calories and zero fat (and Brach's uses part honey to replace most of the sugar)
-Brach's sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times.
-The candy used to be made hand, however it is of course made by machine now.
-Indian corn is flavored to taste like vanilla and chocolate while candy corn has no extra flavoring
-The candy pumpkin is considered a mellowcreme candy because it has more of a marshmallow tastes than the candy corn
-The candy pumpkin was used to help sway senators to vote for daylight savings time to be extended to include Halloween back in 1995.  (It was extended in 2005)

So go.  Go and devour pounds and pounds of candy corn and be happy :)

Potter Post No. 1 1/8--Wands

It's Saturday! Which means it's time for another Potter Post!  Today is all about wands.

Disclaimer: All background information comes from JK Rowling. 

The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why. But I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you.-Mr. Ollivander

Mr. Ollivander was always a peculiar character to me (by the way his wand was Hornbeam and dragon heartstring, twelve and three-quarter inches, slightly bendy).  The wandmaker is clearly talented-no question about it.  But he always seemed in awe of power and strength--but hey maybe that's just me.  But here is a bit of fun background info for you on our slightly sketch wandmaker:


The profession of wandcraft was one that was a family business and Mr. Ollivander spent his entire life learning the craft and dedicating himself to improve the art of wandcraft as well.  A common custom was to present a wandmaker with something the witch or wizard held valuable and then a wand would be crafted around that material out of their favorite wood (think of Fleur Delacour's wand, the core was a veela hair from her grandmother).  Mr Ollivander however does not practice this.  Mr. Ollivander studied cores and woods and determined which were the best.  This was revolutionary at the time.  And eventually it became clear that Mr. Ollivander had his the nail on the head--the wand chooses the wizard. 

I'm a beta tester for the soon to be publicly released site Pottermore:a unique online experience from JK Rowling and I recently went through the process of being chosen by a wand.  My wand? Hazel with a phoenix feather core, 12 1/2 inches, slightly springy

So for today we're going to take a look into wand cores.  There is tons of info on wood types but for today's purposes we won't get into that.  There are only three that Mr. Ollivander uses: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix feather.  So what does the core mean in regard to the user and the magic?

Both of Ron's wands were Unicorn Hair

Unicorn Hair-- produces consistent magic and is the least likely to turn to the Dark Arts.  They are not known to make the most powerful wands and if mishandled the unicorn hair will die and need to be replaced.  However, they are extremely faithful to their owner.

Draco was also unicorn hair

Hermione is Dragon Heartstring

Dragon Heartstring--typically produce the most powerful wands and they learn quickly.  They also are the most susceptible to turning to the Dark Arts but will not turn that way of it's own accord (that is up to the witch/wizard).  They are prone to accidents and bond with their current owner and therefore won't perform poorly if transferred to another owner.








Phoenix Feather--the rarest of all cores they perform the greatest range of magic, however it takes time for this to show.  Considering they come from a fiercely independent creature they can cause the wand to act of it's own accord (think of when Harry's wand saved Harry at the beginning of the seventh book against Voldemort on it's own accord).  This core also produces wands that are extremely picky as to which wizard it chooses but once it has chosen it becomes fiercely loyal.  They are hard to tame and earn allegiance, therefore it most likely will never work for a witch/wizard other than it's original .

Of course.  Voldemort and Harry both have Phoenix Feather cores...from the same Phoenix. 

 What about the all powerful Elder Wand?

The Elder wand's (which will eventually have it's own Potter Post) core is the tail hair of thestral.  What? not one of the three listed above?  Mr Ollivander did not make the Elder wand, there are other wand makers...and the Elder wands origins are mysterious and impossible to say with certainty who made the wand. 


I hope you enjoyed this small insight into wands!!!

-Jenna Out. 

Happy Friday!

Enjoy this bit of nostalgia.   (Why don't people carry parasols and walking sticks anymore?)

Owl Obsessed

I love owl accessories.   I adore them.  No, my favorite animal is not an owl--it's an orca.  But when it comes to accessories--I just can't get enough owls.

I must own these:

Potter Post No. 3/4

My first ever Potter Post :)  Potter Posts will come out every Saturday and it will always be somehow related to Harry Potter.  Excited?  (If you said no...you are a sad, sad creature.)

So what is Potter Post all about?  Anything and everything Harry Potter.  I plan to have posts discussing themes in the books (like love), interesting questions raised (like what does Voldemort eat?), character profiles and in-depth looks (who is Susan Bones?), movie news (what is Emma Watson doing now?), fun you-tube videos (Pigfarts is real.), Pottermore stuff (my wand is Hazel with Phoenix Feather, 12 1/2), or interesting pictures and Potter facts (did you know that Lily was not invited to Petunia and Vernon's wedding?--I do.  And I can tell you all about it).

The first Potter Post will be a Starkid post (Starkid? What is that? Read about it here)

This is a part of the very funny Harry Potter Parody, A Very Potter Musical.  The musical can be found in it's entirety on youtube.  It is an absolute must watch for any Harry Potter fan.

If you have time watch this whole video, if not watch the video posted at the bottom.

Great quotes:
"I don't know man Cedric Diggory is pretty awesome.  NOT! He sucks! I'm totally gonna win! It's in the bag!"-Harry

"Oh my God Hermione! Shut up!" -Ron

"Snape is one of the kindest, bravest, gentlest, sexiest men I ever known" -Dumbledore

"Rumbleroar is the headmaster at Pigfarts.  He's a lion.  Who can talk." -Draco

"Not all of us inherited enough money to buy out Nasa when our parent's died.  Look at this! Look at this! Rocketship Potter!"-Draco

"I can believe I couldn't figure out the counter curse was just unjellify!" -Goyle

 A Very Potter Musical Act I: Part 4

For those who are time constrained:

-Jenna out.