It's that time of year again... where the snow falls, christmas trees go up, and my city decides to decorate for christmas and turn all of their lights on at the same time. I love Light Up Night even though it gets terribly crowded and this year will probably be worse than those in the past because of construction getting in the way. But I don't care.

 

My evening will start with a walk over to my old office building where (in my opinion) the best tree in the city is. I will be greeted by a large group of children dressed up in their xmas costumes, singing xmas carols, and dancing. Then I will eagerly wait for them to light the brilliant xmas tree before me. Then, just like every year, they will begin a little ice skating show and play the "Xmas Canon in D" and I will proceed to get teary eyed. This is probably my favorite part of the whole night.

 

Next I will do my best at directing My Prince over the phone how to get into the city without getting blocked and tell him where to park. As I'm talking to him I will walk over to the parking garage to meet him there. Next, we will rush over to the food court to score some dinner and (depending on the time) either eat it there or bring it back to my office building to eat. We will then set up in someone's office and eat while we wait for the fireworks show to begin. We'll watch the fireworks and go back down to the city streets and do whatever we want on a whim.

 

It's great fun!

 

I'll take my camera with me and snap a bunch of beautiful pictures. We'll probably stop over at "Santa's from around the World" exhibit. One of my other favorite things to do is walk down the city streets that have lights going across the street over head, from building to building. There will also be a bunch of goodies to try. Like hot apple cider and funnel cake with hot fudge topping. YUM!

This is the my first picture of my favorite tree being lit up last year. Hopefully this year I can get a clearer pic.

 

Merry Christmas!

~ Fat Chick

I’ve been dying to review this three book series and I’m not finding myself able to put into words just how fantastic they really are. The Twilight Series by:Stephenie Meyer  starts with book 1, Twilight:

 

 

Isabella just moved in with her Dad and is starting out at a new high school. She ends up sitting next to the most intriguing boy by the name of Edward Cullen. In between trying to adjust to her new life, in a new town, she cracks into the mysterious world of the Cullens’ family and finds herself falling for a vampire. Add a touch of adventure, danger, and mix in romance and you have a thrilling story.

 

Just when you thought Isabella and Edward’s story was over you are introduced to book 2, New Moon:

 

 

In this book one of the characters from the first book comes into the center stage. You get to learn more about the boy Jacob Black who becomes more to Bella than just a young teenager with a crush. It seems Bella cannot escape the paranormal or danger for that matter. In this book our heroine plunges through a storm of heartbreak, rescue, and possibly a happy ending; but not without over coming a few obstacles and emotional hurdles.

 

In book 3, Eclipse, all of the twists and turns come together putting an end to a few loose knots and opening new beginnings at the same time:

 

 

In this book the trio Bella, Edward, and Jacob are thrown together in love, friendship, and war.  Now that most of the secrets are revealed to our little group of three we experience how they handle this knowledge and who will survive it and who won’t. Out of the three books I feel this one was the most intense. It has the most bloodshed and emotional turmoil.

 

Overall I loved this whole series. Even though this series is found in the young adult section of the bookstore it is definitely worth the read. You’d better block out a big chunk of time to start reading any one of these three books because I know I simply couldn’t put it down once I started. I just finished Eclipse last night and just as I was coming down to the last 100 pages it killed me to wait until I had run all of my after work errands to finally finish it.

 

But just like with any good book or series I was sad to see it come to an end. This has become one of my favorites and I’m sure I’ll be rereading it again in the future so many times that I will be able to recite my favorite excerpts.  If I haven't convinced you yet of how good this series is then you can check it out for yourself here.

 

Have a great weekend,

~ Fat Chick

 

P.S. I added my Halloween pics from this year, check them out!

“Do you mind if I do something?” he murmured, his arms tightening around me.

“Anything you want.”

But he let me go and slid away.

“Anything but that,” I complained.

He ignored me, taking my hand and pulling me off the bed, too. He stood in front of me, hands on my shoulders, face serious.

“Now, I want to do this right. Please, please, keep in mind that you’ve already agreed to this, and don’t ruin it for me.”

“Oh, no,” I gasped as he slid down onto one knee.

“Be nice,” he muttered.

I took a deep breath.

“Isabella Swan?” He looked up at me through his impossibly long lashes, his golden eyes soft but, somehow, still scorching. “I promise to love you forever – every single day of forever. Will you marry me?”

There were many things I wanted to say, some of them not nice at all, and others more disgustingly gooey and romantic than he probably dreamed I was capable of. Rather than embarrass myself with either, I whispered, “Yes.”

“Thank you,” he said simply. He took my left hand and kissed each of my fingertips before he kissed the ring that was now mine.

 

Eclipse – by Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 20 Compromise

Pages 459-460

 

~ Fat Chick

P.S. Would you all think me a total sap if I admitted to crying over this?

 

There's not much to add from the last time I posted. I'm on day 15 of being a vegetarian which means I have 15 more days to go for it to be a whole month. So, far this new lifestyle hasn't thrown me through too many loops. There are only two main down sides to this and they are: 1. it's hard to eat vegetarian at the places that My Prince and I eat out to regularly and 2. some of the cravings are hard to ignore. It's kind of a catch 22. When I think of eating meat I think of those poor animals and what they go through before getting to my plate but at the same time some dishes just smell so good.

 

I don't really miss meat though. The part that's proving to be the real challenge is the "Vegan" part of me. I want to stay away from dairy and chemicals as much as possible. But you know as well as I do that when you eat out you're lucky to get a vegetarian option let alone a vegan option. The exciting part is trying out all of these new foods. I'm starting to take a liking to tofu. If done right, tofu can be rather yummy!

 

I just told my Dad this weekend that I was eating vegetarian and he had no problems with it. He even told me that he'd have plenty of veggies for me at Thanksgiving. My Mom took it rather well too, she was just bummed out that I wouldn't be learning how to make her cabbage rolls. She said she doesn't know the measurements and that you have to taste it as you make it, so that kind of makes it hard for me to make it.

 

It has put a bit of a strain on my relationship with My Prince. He's not telling me that I shouldn't be doing it but he has expressed his surprise, concerns, and even sadness over my choice. It's weird how much a food choice can change things when you don't think it makes that much of a difference to begin with.

 

But enough of that already, on the up side of things in another ten days we'll be celebrating Light Up Night here in 'Da Burgh. Also, it was a great night for sports here last night. Our hockey team walked away with a 5-0 shut out against the Devils and the Steelers walked away with a victory against the Ravens 38-7, YAY!!!!

 

I have a quiz tonight in my class, wish me luck!

 

Happy Tuesday,

~ Fat Chick