Twilight

Five things that have kept me humble

/ Meg / 20 Comments

The holidays aren’t a time for hubris. Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about feeling the love. About recognizing our blessings and feeling grateful for all we’ve been given. For reflecting upon another year gone by and celebrating the people who matter to us.

I’m holly and jolly at Christmas (and other times, I hope), but sometimes things happen to knock you on your metaphorical bum. One of the nicknames bandied about by my friend Sandy is BH, or “Big Head” — referring to, of course, my weighty ego. I mean, yes — I think I’m great. Not because I’m better than anyone else, but because I’m a woman with confidence and — dare I say it? — swagger.

Writerly swagger, anyway. Which is basically like real swagger.

Sandy first coined BH in a text conversation while I was in New York City. Nervous before the Book Blogger Convention, where I was speaking on a panel, I’d been instructed to write her with news of how everything went in the aftermath. When I texted to say everything had gone well and I was relieved to have not embarrassed myself in front of my peers and publishing types, her response was, “Just make sure your BH can get through the door.”

I’ve lived by that motto. Lest my BH get too big to fit in my office or car, the universe occasionally conspires to keep me grounded.

Very grounded.

Sometimes too grounded.

In no particular order, I present . . .


Recent Things That Have
Kept Me Humble


1. Being asked if I have a 23-year-old daughter.

In the wee hours of Black Friday, I was stumbling around an electronics store with my dad and 23-year-old sister. When the time came to check out, I brought my purchases up to a cashier. She waved to Katie, completing her own purchase nearby, and turned to me with a grin. I guess she recognized the last name on my credit card.

“So,” she said slowly, “is Katie your sister — or your daughter?”

My. daughter.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve spent a little too much time plucking wiry, silver-white hairs from my scalp lately. In addition to my nightly teeth-brushing and face-washing, I’m often brandishing a pair of tweezers on a mission to de-gray myself. But do I, a 26-year-old woman, look like I have a 23-year-old daughter? I mean, seriously?

For the record, I was nice. I laughed it off with a chuckle. Much like the time a former coworker asked me if I had “a bun in the oven.” He got the Patented Megan Look of Death, and then we all went about our business.


2. Falling out of my office chair.

I have a really annoying habit of leaning forward in my desk chair, practically pressing my tired little eyeballs against the monitor. On one such occasion, while in the middle of a casual conversation with a coworker, I tipped too far forward and went skittering down. Before I could catch my balance, my behind hit the ground — hard. So hard that I whined like a child shoved by a playground bully.

Too stunned to immediately react, I stared at the dust gathering in the corners beneath my desk and tilted my head up to stare at the ceiling. I was totally embarrassed. But, you know — I understand that the sight of others falling is funny. And since I’m a good sport, I allowed myself to be photographed in such an awkward position. With my own camera.


3. Getting hate mail.

I write a personal newspaper column, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned a time or two (or twenty). It’s challenging and awesome, and I’m super grateful to have a J-O-B — especially doing what I love: writing. About myself. (BH . . .)

For the most part, the response to said columns is very positive. I haven’t dealt with many haters. I imagine that if people don’t like what I have to say, they simply don’t read it — and that’s a very effective plan. But I have one persistent reader — she of the original hate mail fame — that can’t sit idly by while I defile the English language and smear the name of good journalists everywhere (paraphrased, and italics are mine).

By her own admission, she’s 83 years old and living somewhere in a neighboring county. I’ve received several handwritten letters from her now, all correcting me on my style and generally “unbelievable” articles, and have been told in no uncertain terms that I’m “not a real journalist.”

Which is great to hear, because I’m totally not.

I’m a writer who happened upon an editing job, which somehow led to a columnist gig. One of which I’m proud. And one I’ll happily keep writing — if only to agitate her.


4. Having a friend share her ‘fat clothes’ with us.

I’m hesitant to include this, given that I love the clothes, but here are the facts: a kind friend of my sister’s shared a bag of clothes with her. As she had recently lost a great deal of weight, these were perfectly good items — many still with their tags — that simply did not fit her well anymore.

She did not call them her “fat clothes.” At all.

But that’s totally what they were.

I mean, words are just words — and who cares how you procure clothing as long as it’s cute? Katie was nice enough to donate one of the dress shirts to me, and I’ve worn it several times to work — where I received many compliments. (BH . . .) It’s a good looking shirt, and it fits me well. I love it.

But sometimes, when I’m feeling weak and haven’t gone to Zumba, I think, “This is someone’s fat shirt. This shirt that fits me like a glove was a shirt that was elephant-sized on someone else.”

But then I drink another gingerbread latte (with whip!) and feel tons better, so there’s that.


5. Realizing I’m aging out of the whole ‘Twilight’ thing.

My sister and I went to see “Breaking Dawn” last weekend. I’m pretty ridiculous in movie theaters, considering I despise when people are talking, texting, loudly opening candy wrappers and generally breathing around me during a film. Given this, I’m pretty hesitant to go see movies — especially new ones — on Friday nights. Too many people around.

Or, more importantly, too many teenagers around.

God help me when I have a teen of my own; I cannot take the silliness and general insanity that accompanies puberty. Trust me: I remember being that age, and I’m not saying I wasn’t annoying as some stuff. I have very vivid memories of going to the movies with friends and giggling in the back row, generally being stupid and disruptive. And that was before cell phones.

But I’ve moved beyond that.

I’ll also preface this by saying I mean no disrespect to those who remain true and diehard fans of Stephenie Meyer and the Twilight franchise. I read and loved the books (and films) years back, falling for Edward’s possessiveness and tortured good-guy act as much as the next chick. I also related to the dark themes and loss of love at that point in my life. But the truth is, with time and experience, I’ve come to realize that brand of love is not one I would ever want for myself. What was once entertaining has become bothersome — to the point that Katie and I have had long discussions of feminism and possessiveness after watching the movies.

All that sort of ruined it for me.

And, um — have you seen “Breaking Dawn”? It was overflowing with super awkward moments, y’all, and not just of the bed-breaking naughty-times variety. That one scene? That bloody scene toward the end? One express ticket to Nightmare City, please.

If I’d been pregnant myself while watching such a film, I might have passed out. But then again, I’m also the one who famously left a child development course in college because I couldn’t take the “Where Babies Come From” video we were forced to watch (and study). I got sick in a nearby bathroom and was too embarrassed to come back to class, considering I’d run out of there as if my hair were on fire.

Also, there were so many teenagers in the movie theater. When I hissed as much to Katie, who is all too aware of how annoyed I get in loud theaters, her response was swift and cutting.

“Well,” she said seriously, “this is really more their demographic than ours.”

And she was right.

I’m getting old. And too old for that.


——–


As Christmas is the season for counting our blessings and decidedly not a time for throwing myself a pity party, know that I’ve shared this list in jest. I know any of these “problems” would never be considered real problems at all, and I’m thankful to have “fat clothes” to wear and people who care enough to hate on me and gray hair (and any hair) on my head. Furthermore, I’m thankful for the friends and family who can also laugh about this silliness.

But seriously. I don’t have a 23-year-old kid.

‘Eclipse’ featured less mouth breathing and abs, but more disturbing relationship insights

/ Meg / 21 Comments

Despite my one-time obsession with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, something was preventing me from getting incredibly excited about seeing “Eclipse,” the third installment in “The Twilight Saga,” the film adaptations of the bestselling books.

I mean, like “New Moon,” I knew it would feature Jacob’s killer abs (though far less in this film — bummer) and Bella’s usual angst. Eclipse was my favorite novel in the series, leading me to believe that I would enjoy that movie most. I was right — this was the film I liked best. But why wasn’t I wandering around town all starry-eyed after, slobbering about how good-looking Edward was? Why wasn’t I rushing off to buy “Eclipse” T-shirts and Twittering it up all weekend?

Well, I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that I’m almost 25 now. And yes, I know there are plenty of Twi-hards of all ages out there — and more power to them. But for me? I just feel older. And more cynical about the nature of Bella and Edward’s obsessive relationship.

Hearing them talk about marriage — Bella is 17 and a minor, at least for a little while longer — actually made my stomach turn. My sister and I both cringed when Edward saw the bracelet Jacob made for Bella, featuring a little wolf charm, and the unhappiness it brought him. He’s trying to control her. And we can argue it’s for her own safety, sure, considering there’s a red-headed psycho murderess vampire after her. But it goes beyond that, too — it runs deep. Depending on your view, he’s protective — or controlling. Maybe both. But either way, it left me feeling strange about the whole thing. And if you have to give up everything — everything — in order to be with someone, as Bella would have to for Edward, how can that be a healthy, sane relationship?

I just feel like it’s . . . disturbing. Setting a bad example for young women, for teenagers like my own young cousin. It worries me to think that 13-year-olds are looking at Edward and Bella’s dependency on one another and finding it “romantic,” a model for love to which to aspire. I’ve been in love, out of love and (happily!) in love again, and I’m not saying I’m The Expert On Romance And Relationships, but I know this: I respect myself enough to never believe, even for a moment, that I have to sacrifice everything in order to be with someone “forever.” That I would die — or rather die — than be away from him.

I mean, get some self-respect, girl.

Am I reading too much into it? Maybe. They are, after all, just books — and movies, too. But books change lives and attitudes, and books change people. Books this popular have the ability to change perspectives, no doubt about it — especially when people are so engrossed in them. I just hope it’s for the better.

But the movie? Well, the movie was good. Entertaining, and finally featured some action. If I had to listen to Bella sighing and stuttering and making strange facial expressions and breathing through her mouth for two hours without any action, I probably would have shoved my face in a bag of popcorn and never come up for air. But “Eclipse” was better than I expected, and I enjoyed seeing the scenes I once treasured played out — especially the infamous tent scene where our vampire-wolf-human love triangle comes to a head.

And I believed Jacob — I believed he really loved her. God knows why because girlfriend is a mess, but I didn’t for a minute question his feelings for her. Jake doesn’t see Bella in the “I have to have you, I can’t live without you” way that Edward does, so maybe some see his feelings as less ardent — but not so. And when Edward says that if Bella chose Jacob over him, he’d let her go, you know I didn’t buy that for a second.

But if Bella makes a big, stupid, ridiculous decision, Jake really will let her go. He wants her to be happy — even  if it’s not with him. He’ll set her free.

And that’s love. Or closer to it.

Book review: ‘The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner’ by Stephenie Meyer

/ Meg / 13 Comments

For Bree Tanner, life as a newly-created vampire has consisted of following orders, avoiding squabbles in a household of other newborns and being told, under strict penalty, never to go outside in the daytime. Sent out in the streets of Seattle, Bree’s only goal is to feed — as much and with as little trouble as possible. Human blood, even from the “dregs” of society, is her sustenance.

But something feels strange about her situation, about life with twenty other vampires and little knowledge of how they got that way. Bree was a troubled teen, true, and she’d been living on the streets when discovered by Riley and offered a meal. She became the meal at some point, taken to the dark home where she “lives” now, told that she’s a member of a coven whose purpose is still unknown. After she befriends Diego, another vampire and friend of Riley, Bree begins to think about getting away — especially when Riley’s lies begin to stack one atop the other. And something is beginning to happen. Something is coming after them.

Stephenie Meyer’s The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner is a novella to supplement Eclipse, the third in her bestselling Twilight Saga, and centers around the life of a minor character from that third book. I’ll admit to reading and enjoying all four of Meyer’s novels several summers ago, pre-blogging, and getting lost in the complicated love story of Edward and Bella. The shadowy world of modern-day vampires was a new one for me, I’ll say, and while I know the series faces criticism (and rightfully so), I liked the Twilight books as the escapist fun I found them to be — and, in that vein, I enjoyed Bree Tanner.

Like all of Meyer’s books, the emotional depth was lacking — or non-existent, depending on your perspective. Things happen. Lots of talking. Many questions — entire paragraphs of questions, most of them centering around, “What is happening? Are they telling me the truth? Should I believe them? What if they’re wrong? What should I do?” And after the third or fourth set of Bree’s thoughts in that realm, I started nodding off a bit. (Well, not literally. I was reading it online. But if I were at home, that’s around the time I’d have gotten a big bowl of ice cream, put on some “Glee” and forgotten about it for a while.)

For me, the appeal of the books seems to center around being able to picture yourself as the heroine — the Bella, or the Bree — and imagining your own place within the adventure. The Twilight books hinge around a familiar formula: the slow building of a problem; gearing up for a fight or battle; the confrontation; the resolution. Bree Tanner doesn’t break from this, though it bothered me less in a 200-page story than a 700-page clunker of a book.

Twilight devotees will enjoy another glimpse at life within the newborns, a group which played an integral role in the plot of Eclipse and the fate of Bella. I liked watching the attachments forming between Bree, Diego and “Freaky” Fred, another mysterious coven member with special powers, but never got completely attached to Bree — especially knowing, as I did, how it all would end. That’s what’s strange about a book like this: we know the ending long before we open the first page. I didn’t find it particularly enlightening, moving or powerful, but hey — it filled an afternoon.


3 out of 5!

ISBN: 1907410368 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Author Website
Read for free online at BreeTanner.com

‘New Moon’ a worthy chapter in my ‘Twilight’-obsessed drooling

/ Meg / 15 Comments

So after devouring all four books in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series two summers ago and having quite the Edward Cullen-obsessed weekend this time last year, I figured “New Moon” would produce plenty more for me to gawk and cry and pant over this year. Yeah, and I was totally right. Because though I still pledge my loyalty to Edward for all his awkward, well-meaning devotion to Bella, Jacob Black? Dude stepped up to the plate. And became really, really ridiculously good looking.

No one needs a summary of the film, so I’ll skip all that nonsense and get to the good stuff: “New Moon” was well acted, gorgeous to watch and, most importantly, way more entertaining than the actual novel! Of all the book in the series, New Moon was the most painful for me to get through . . . maybe because I’ve had my heart broken, too, but probably more because it was droning and long. I felt your pain, Bella, for reals, but at some point you have to pick yourself up, stop diving off cliffs and just get on with your life.

But the Bella in this “New Moon”? Sassier. Still codependent and clearly unhealthily obsessed with Edward, for sure, but just . . . better. Kristen Stewart didn’t irk my last nerve nearly the way she did in “Twilight,” when I’d just about wanted to pop out of my seat in the theater and punch her rapidly blinking, constantly stuttering face.

I was sincerely worried that the lack of Edward in the movie would leave me bored to tears, because that’s just about what happened while reading the book. Every few pages or so, I’d start skimming frantically ahead to see when our undead lover boy was going to emerge on the scene — or if he was going to come back. Because as much as Bella loved and missed him, desperately wanted to see him? I was just as anxious — and couldn’t take much more of her misery or toying with Jake’s emotions.

My sister, Mom and I went to the 9:45 a.m. showing at our local theater — a time I thought (very, very naively) would be deserted. I mean, who goes to the movies before 10 a.m. on a weekend? Why do they even have movies before 10 a.m. on a weekend? Well, we showed up twenty minutes before the film started and still scrambled to find seats. Make a note on your mental scorecard ’cause it doesn’t happen often, but I was wrong.

Plenty of husbands, fathers and boyfriends were around, and let me say this: are you ladies feeling all right? The very last place I would want my significant other to hang out with me is at movie where Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner remain shirtless for extended periods of time! Grown women in our theater gasped when Taylor first stripped off his T-shirt. Adult women. And how am I supposed to enjoy all the delicious eye candy while holding some other guy’s hand, his eyes analyzing mine to see if I’m really buying into all this romantic stuff (hint: I am)? Dude, you’re no Edward. Just go home and watch a football game or something. I don’t need your constant sarcastic comments in my ear, totally ruining my serious reverie and reminding me that the likelihood I’ll meet someone as kind, perfect, intelligent and devoted to me as one of these fictional characters is, um, zero.

(Rants like this might be why I’m single, I should note. Or maybe it’s just because the tools I’ve dated in the past just don’t know a good thing when they hear her talking about Twilight. Hard to say, hard to say . . . Wait, it’s the latter.)

So all in all, “New Moon” was an epic win in my book! Plenty of action, suspense, romantic tension, family dynamics, cool scenery, bad guys (and girls), scenes in the Italian countryside . . . fantastic. My only gripe? The whole experience has left me with a serious tender spot for one Jacob Black, a character I’d never really paid any mind in the past. I’m still on Team Edward, but I can’t promise my alliance won’t shift if more images like the one above keep infiltrating my computer. And, you know, Jacob’s not all brooding and stalkery — unlike my boy Edward. Though I’ll keep running with the vampires . . . for now.

California, here we come — right back where we started from

/ Meg / 18 Comments

So I’m back from California! I don’t know how I could have possibly seen or done more in four and a half days — and I had an absolutely fantastic time, and I couldn’t have gotten away with friends at a better time. As I’d hoped, the West Coast sunshine and time away from ordinary life did me a world of good . . . and helped put many things into perspective for me.

As we cruised down Sunset Boulevard, watched the sunset in Santa Monica, zipped around San Diego, stood in the Pacific Ocean, shopped at Hollywood & Highland and even saw the cast of “New Moon” (more on that later!), I watched my young life come into focus. Nothing about living is perfect — we’re going to hurt others and be hurt, feel like winners but sometimes like failures, forget how to trust and watch ourselves become vulnerable all over again. But all of that? Worth it. And all of my troubles? Not really troubles at all. Life — messy, complicated, painful, extraordinary — is beautiful.

Yeah, travel always makes me wax philosophical.

Good morning BaltimoreSo California! Gorgeous. We arrived at San Diego at 10 a.m. local time on Nov. 4 after getting up at 2:30 a.m. EST and flying for six hours. I watched the sunrise every day for almost a week straight on this vacation — a surreal experience! Especially since it’s rare to find me up before 8 a.m. — even on work days. I suck at mornings. But watching the sky turn colors as I sat on our little plane, listening to Owl City and feeling my life shift again? Gorgeous.

After an uneventful flight in which I alternated between napping lightly and reading According To Jane, we landed in San Diego! After successfully getting our rental SUV, Kim, Elizabeth, Nichole and I cruised around the city, had a delicious BBQ lunch/dinner and spent the evening walking near Ocean Beach and snapping photos at Sunset Cliffs — a sp0t recommended to us by the awesome staff at the restaurant where we had lunch. The Cliffs definitely lived up to their name, I can tell you that! So I officially watched the sun rise on one coast and set on the other. We literally watched the dying of the light, Kim and I standing on the edge of a precipice — literally — until the last few rays had disappeared. An awesome way to start the trip!


Sunset Cliffs


We rounded out our first night in California by heading to San Diego’s Gaslamp District for drinks at Whiskey Girl, where we watched part of the Yankees winning the World Series. I like baseball as much as the next sportswriter’s daughter, but the highlight of that experience for me was just wandering through town and exploring with the girls. It was almost impossible for me to comprehend how far away from home we were — and walking around a strange city with people just wrapping up the work day! At that point — around 6 p.m. PST — I’d been awake for 16 some-odd hours. And by “dinnertime”? Yeah, I was ready to call it a night.

So we did — but not before stopped at El Indio, a restaurant in San Diego that was featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” If it’s good enough for Guy Fieri, it’s good enough for Meg! Our tacos were great, though I was so delirious with exhaustion at that point, you probably could have tossed a bowl of snack peanuts in front of me and I’d have written a joyous song about them. And sung it to you. Loudly.

On Thursday morning, we played a game called Spot The East Coast Girls — we were the ones up at 5:30 a.m., texting our friends and family back home and staring at each other with slightly dazed expressions. Jet lag was our constant companion on the West Coast, tagging along and kicking our tails at every turn. But the bright side of getting up before the sun? We had no trouble at all getting showered, checked out, breakfasted and on the road by 8:30 a.m.!

Yes, friends, it was time for Disneyland, one of the happiest places on Earth! Our drive from San Diego to Anaheim was very scenic and, considering we hadn’t yet made it to Los Angeles, not totally traffic congested. We got to the theme park just as it was opening at 10 a.m. and made our way to Disney’s California Adventure first, where we made our way to awesome rides like the Tower Of Terror and Soarin’ Over California. In Disneyland itself, we saw Sleeping Beauty’s Castle — pretty, though surprisingly small compared to Cinderella’s Castle in Disney World — and admired everything already dressed up for Christmas! We spent hours wandering around the parks and even met Mickey Mouse himself. Nichole, a newbie to the world of Disney parks, was especially thrilled!


sleeping_beauty_castle

Kim, Nichole, Elizabeth and Meg with Mickey


After we left Disney, exhaustion was definitely creeping up on me again. We drove into Los Angeles and, for the first time, I could truly appreciate all the griping folks do about traffic in the city. Hey, I’m from D.C. — traffic-wise, it’s no picnic over here, either! (The Beltway at rush hour, anyone?) I’ve scoffed at the complaints of Californians about their traffic in the past, but trust me — no more. Dude, it was horrible. It took us about two hours to get from the freeway outside the city to our hotel on Highland Avenue. We were on the 101 or Route 5 or something — I’m not sure, Garmin did the work — but it was painful. Thankfully we had good friends and good music to keep us from going insane . . . and we did get inside L.A. Woo! We wrapped up our first night in the city by getting dinner at Hollywood & Highland and doing some light shopping. And for me? Lights out by 10 p.m.! I’m such a rascal, I know!

We were up early again on Friday, making our way to beaches up and down the coast. We left L.A. in the morning bound for Malibu, Laguna Beach, Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Driving the Pacific Coast Highway was fantastic — and all of our stops? Totally a photographer’s dream! I was beside myself, often hanging half of my body out of the car in an effort to snap the mountains or the coastline or a fantastic sign along the road. We even visited Pepperdine University in Malibu, where the stunning views would keep my mind off anything even vaguely related to studying. Seriously, how do those kids get anything done? We had lunch in Laguna at an oceanfront restaurant and, after seven years, I got to dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean once more! And it was cold. Serious Polar Bear Club material.


Driving to Malibu

malibu

flip_flops

me_in_laguna


We wrapped up our big beach day by stopping briefly in Venice Beach on our way to Santa Monica, where we were bound and determined to see the sunset! We’d missed it the evening before while stuck in traffic on the freeway, and it was so pink and exquisite that it broke my heart. The excellent news? We definitely made to the pier, where we wandered about and watching the sun sink over the water. I took a solid 50 photos of just that experience and made sure to call my dad from the pier, one of his favorite spots!


santa_monica_sunset


After we watched the dying of the light again, it was back to Hollywood for the evening! After spending the whole day freezing to death in chilly water and even chillier breezes once it got dark, we made the unanimous decision to have a relaxed evening — attire-wise. I threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie before we headed back to Hollywood & Highland in search of dinner and something to occupy the evening.

Um, well, we found it, all right.

We figured out something was up as soon as we pulled into the garage on Orange Avenue, a spot where we’d been parking for days without any trouble. It was jammed. Considering it was a Friday night in Los Angeles, I figured maybe people were just out and about in the city. No big deal. Well, after we wedged Blue Beauty in a spot and made the climb upstairs, I heard it: the distinct rumble of an incredibly excited crowd.

An incredibly excited crowd of Twilight fans.

After we stood on the third balcony of Hollywood & Highland for a minute or two to see what was up and heard someone say something about the “New Moon” soundtrack, you could have knocked Kim and me over with little feathers. Mind you, we had no idea what was going on — or who was going to appear. Only that something Twilight-related was happening and, gosh darnit, we weren’t moving until we figured out what it was!

Not even ten minutes later, the event host announced that Death Cab For Cutie was coming out — and I think I yelled myself hoarse on the spot. I freaking love Death Cab, featured on the soundtrack, and actually got tears in my eyes when they started playing “Cath…,” my favorite song from their most recent album. Their “set” was only two songs long, but hey — never in my life did I imagine I’d get to see them play live in L.A.

Or that I’d get to see Rob Pattinson live — in the flesh — with the rest of the “New Moon” cast, including Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, just minutes later.

Yes, friends, that’s right — ROBERT PATTINSON walked out onto the tiny stage before me and I was pretty sure I was going to have a total mental breakdown. Kim’s and my hyperventilating was legendary — and I’m only glad that Elizabeth and Nichole had retreated into the restaurant to wait for us and didn’t see the total breakdown of my sanity. Because it was bad. Screaming, crying, jumping and, sadly, the breaking of my digital camera. When Rob’s slim form took the stage, I managed to work myself into such a tizzy that I actually cracked the screen of my camera by jostling it around in my purse. (Thankfully, I’m so OCD that I’d brought two cameras with me on the trip, and that was the smaller and least expensive of the two.)

Even with the malfunctioning screen, I managed to snap some pics — but please don’t scoff at the overall suckiness of my shots! In photos two and three below, note that, from left, are Robert, Kristen, Taylor, the host and several other cast members (the Wolf Pack?). For a full account of what went down, visit Letters To Twilight!


Death Cab For Cutie at the 'New Moon' soundtrack event

cast_shot_1

'New Moon' cast: Robert, left, Kristen and Taylor


Needless to say, Kim and I were riding quite high after our unexpected but serendipidous celebrity sighting and jabbered about it all through dinner (sushi) and dessert (Cold Stone ice cream). I was even too pumped to lament the death of my camera, though I’m certainly mourning it now! It served me — and the first half of my trip — well, so I’ll remember it fondly!

Saturday was a big day of sight-seeing, shopping, eating and drinking; the day found us at Cathedral of Our Lady Of The Angels, an enormous church in L.A.; Dodger Stadium, where we convinced a security guard to let us in and take photos (win!); shopping on Rodeo Drive; buying four matching rings at Tiffany & Co. as momentos of our amazing trip; having lunch in Beverly Hills; getting mistaken for celebrities by the paparazzi (!); grabbing cupcakes at famed shop Sprinkles (mine was pumpkin, y’all!); driving up to Griffith Observatory and eating our dessert outside; finally spotting the famous Hollywood sign; stopping by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Walk Of Fame; drinks at the Roosevelt Hotel and dinner (sushi again!) on Sunset Boulevard.

Did you get all that? We were booking it.


Cathedral Of Our Lady Of The Angels

Me in Dodger Stadium

Rodeo Drive

With the Ambassador of Beverly Hills

Tiffany's box on our lunch menu

Eating our Sprinkles cupcakes at Griffith Observatory

The girls in Griffith Observatory

Me with the Hollywood sign

Grauman's Chinese Theater

My hands in Daniel Radcliffe's hands! Harry from 'Harry Potter'

Drinks at the Roosevelt Hotel


Yeah, needless to say — by the time I laid my little head on the pillow at our hotel on Highland, I slept like a baby. I don’t think I’ve been that tired since I went to London! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised . . . my vacations are always more adventures than actual relaxing trips. But I like it that way.

On our final day in California, we again greeted the sun as we prepared to leave L.A. and return to San Diego, where three of the four of us were flying back to Baltimore that evening. In order to break up the two-and-a-half hour trek back to SD, we made a stop in Oceanside, Calif., definitely one of the prettiest places we saw! Considering it was a random, spur-of-the-moment stop, I was very happy we pulled over. And paid $1 to park — our cheapest fare in the state!

oceanside_sign


oceanside


Back near San Diego, we made a stop in La Jolla — a seriously, unimaginably gorgeous place. It was hard to believe the rocky beaches were real — and filled with live sea lions! La Jolla Cove and Children’s Pool Beach were teeming with them. Kim took videos on her BlackBerry as the crowd ogled them! Adorable!


la_jolla

Sea lions, left, at La Jolla Cove


After making a stop at the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course, we wandered back to Old Town San Diego to snap photos and get ice cream. By mid-afternoon, it was off to the island of Coronado — just over the bridge from San Diego. We toured through Hotel del Coronado, which was gorgeous, and hung out a little on the beach there.


Me in Old Town San Diego

Hotel del Coronado

Beach in Coronado


By the time it was starting to get dusky and we were just hours from heading to the airport for our red-eye flights back to reality, we began looking for a nice spot to stop and see the sunset. We found it at Silver Beach, which was deserted except for us — and our baggage of excellent memories. Kim and I sat on a ledge and watched until the sun had dipped completely into the Pacific, ending our West Coast vacation. Getting up and walking back to the SUV with full memory cards and a heavy heart was a really difficult thing to do.


Sunset at Silver Beach


Thankfully, my adventure wasn’t quite over — because I got to meet Jessica of Cover To Cover in San Diego! After dropping Kim and Nichole off at the airport, Elizabeth and I headed to where Jess was staying for a conference in the city. Mind you, Jess is from Philadelphia and I’m from Maryland — East Coast girls through and through. But fate somehow brought us both to the same place at the same time . . . just barely! My flight was at 10 p.m. that evening and Jess was headed home the following morning, but we managed to find each other.

We had dinner at Elephant & Castle (coincidentally, the same restaurant chain where I met up with tons of other fantastic book bloggers in September!) and chatted like the old friends we are. It was awesome to meet her in person! I’m sure we could have talked a few more hours, but I had to dash off to make my flight — ending one seriously awesome trip.


jess_me


I can’t say enough good things about my time away . . . and am just hoping I can hold on to this bold, happy feeling as long as possible! There’s definitely nothing like travel to change the way you see the world — and to remind you the world is a big, big place. I’ll always remember standing before the Pacific Ocean and feeling small but tall, and loved that I could share the journey with new and old friends.

Now, where am I going next?

And if you’re feeling particularly brave, bored or, maybe, a combination of both,
I took more than 800 photos on my trip —
and you’re welcome to check them all out!

Edward Cullen reaches out to me. And you.

/ Meg / 7 Comments
Edward Cullen reaches out to you

Edward Cullen reaches out to you

How many times did I watch “Twilight” on DVD this weekend? One. I know — I’m proud of me, too! And so is my Edward Cullen action figure!

It was about to be a big ol’ zero on the viewing schedule until I convinced my sister to sit down with me around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. We’d spent a long few hours working on her internship applications and, considering I’d actually been in possession of the movie for more than 12 hours at that point, I was getting antsy. After all the e-mails were sent out and Kate’s future was yet to be decided (don’t worry, baby sis, they’re going to love you!), we got our golden retriever to settle down long enough to enjoy a little “Twilight” goodness.

Now, I’ll be honest here. I’m a huge fan of the franchise, have read all the books obsessively and gotten my fan-girl bit on, hosted the Breaking Dawn event out at our bookstore (with more than 500 screaming girls — oh, yeah!) and have all sorts of merchandise. You know, definitely obsessive-like. As soon as the DVD date was announced, I hastily scribbled it all down in my little pocket calendar and waited and waited.

And then I finally saw it again — this weekend, after my one brief, but wonderful viewing in November.

And I laughed. A lot.

edward_classDon’t get me wrong — I really enjoyed it. I was entertained. But  the facial expressions — especially Edward/Rob Pattinson’s “OMG what is that smell?!” face when Bella first walks into his science class! I was cracking up. I mean, he was physically repulsed — and if a guy pulled a face like that after I’d tactfully taken a seat next to him on my first day at a new school, I’d look over and punch him in the arm. Or the nose.

So I still loved the movie, but it was just campy. That’s the best word I can use to describe the whole thing. I was so caught up in not physically gasping in the theater the first time I saw it, I overlooked many facets of the movie that would . . . well . . . make me cringe under any other circumstances. Just melodrama and angst. And make-up — so much make-up!

twilight_dvd_coverSo I ask myself again, What is the appeal of the books/characters/films for me? The love story? The teenage angst? I’m almost 24, so I don’t think it’s fair that I should still identify heavily with teenage love stories. But I do. Oh, I do! It’s fun and ridiculous and just awesome. I have an English Lit degree and can sit there and chat Shakespeare and Austen with the best of ’em, but that didn’t quell any desire to rub my hands together in unabashed excitement when the opening credits of the film began to roll. I freaking love “Twilight”! (And I am, in fact, listening to the soundtrack on my iPod as I type this.)

And since I’m discussing this now, I might as well go ahead and share some links to the epic time-sucks that keep me from, you know, editing a novel or querying my books or eating dinner or something. I’ve been laughing out loud — and probably embarrassing myself — while reading the endlessly hilarious quips and adventures of the ladies at Letters to Twilight and Letters to Rob. But I’m going to go back to very seriously not doing constant Google Image Searches on Rob Pattinson. No. I won’t.