The Littlest Potter...with a side of two complete witches!

I am so, so tardy in blogging about the many magical adventures of the littlest Harry Potter...but in my defense a heavy workload, a family vacation and an asthma exacerbation conspired to keep my fingers from flying across these hallowed keys. But I prevail! And let me tell you what a fabulous night it was. Deana ran to Nobbies & found Mr. Sam an actual Harry Potter ensemble, including wand and glasses, as well as a cape and Griffyndor scarf for Princess Izzy. Sam and I went early to save seats prior to the midnight debut of the film. There were actually MORE people in costumes than I would have thought...and I thought quite a few people would don witch's hats and wizard's robes in celebration of this spectacle. As you can imagine, Mr. Sam in full-on Harry garb was extremely popular with the crowd. He got asked to have his picture taken by many a costumed reveler and so I snapped several pics of him amongst the masses as well. He really was very cute.

And speaking of cute, Deana and I got into the spirit of things also:

I was kinda pleased to be able to get some use out of the $22 hat I got for Mr. Sam as a souvenir from our recent Wicked encounter. Deana found a fabulous glitter witch's hat at Nobbies when she was buying the kid's costumes and she *had* to buy it for herself. Personally, I think we were the cutest adults in costume at the movie...but I might be biased. At any rate, you'll find it no surprise that both of us were completely at ease in the role. You might even say, we're a couple of complete witches (kudos to those that immediately get the Charmed reference).

And so we leave you with this last charming photo - Princess Izzy, Gryffindor Poster Girl and Lover of Things Wizarding.

We're Back...

So we know that we've been away for a bit but life got hectic and interfered with blogging. We thought today that we'd come back with a couple of recommendations for nice, inexpensive summer wines. Deana has a subscription to Real Simple magazine and they did a nice article on summer wines under $12 (see the whole article here). We picked out two wines that are top on our list to try - a red and a white.

We like a couple of things about this Jargon pinot noir. Clearly, the label is impressive with bright summer colors and a clever font. It caught our eye right away. Now we know that judging a wine solely on its packaging can sometimes be a disastrous choice but every once in a while it can lead you to try something wonderful. Also this red features dark cherry flavors that complement its easy drinking nature...at least that's what the wine experts at Real Simple have led us to believe. Plus it's red wine which right away fits in our wheelhouse - we're just not that choosy! Also, we've found that if at first you don't like a particular wine drink, drink something else. When you go back and taste the first wine it is ALOT better.

We also recommend the Clean Slate riesling. Obviously, the name sparked an interest right from the get go... "Everybody deserves a second chance" or a clean slate as it were. But what really excited us was the description of the delicious peach and apricot flavors that brighten up this clean, crisp white. Although we are not as drawn to white wines at first glance as we are to reds, whites do have a distinct advantage - they are socially acceptable for early morning or afternoon drinking. It just screams "wino" to order a Cabernet at brunch...although as Deana pointed out you could make sure your wait staff brings the wine in a juice glass and then tell everyone that it is grape juice. But you'll have to be hypervigilant to prevent a youngster from sipping on your "grape juice" or you may end up with some angry parents.

We thought we'd leave you with this awesome photo of Mr. Sam after he went with Jenn to see Wicked last weekend. We actually won the Wicked lottery and got our tickets for only $25 each! And our seats were in the fifth row - we could see everything perfectly. After the show, Mr. Sam kept acting out scenes from the witch's life. This shot is my favorite...

Oh, what a night...

We had such a wonderful time last night! The past two weeks have been very difficult for our family. Grand Master B has been dealing with some significant health issues, leaving me unable to work and with very little time or energy for socializing or blogging (gasp!). However, things seem to have stabilized and we are waiting for a final long-term treatment plan to be put into place. I am back to work and even got out of the house for an evening amongst adults last night. Thanks to everyone who has supported us during this time.

I particularly want to thank my Aunt Mary who sat with B last night so that Jim, Deana, my mom and I could go see Wicked at The Orpheum. What a fantastic show! We had bought the tickets weeks ago and we were taking my mom as a combination Mother's Day and birthday present. I had been fearful that we might not be able to go given B's issues but God was loving our family last night. We had such a wonderful night - great dinner, great show and great company. If you get the chance to see Wicked while it is in town, do not hesitate. It is superb! Deana and I even got matching "Defy Gravity" tees which we will go out of our way to not wear on the same day (but I make no promises cuz it's such a cute tee). The shirts are v-neck and the wording goes down each side of the vee across the chest, potentially creating quite a 'double entendre' depending upon the size of one's chest. I'm not sure that my own endowments will astound but it puts a smile on my face just to think about wearing it. And after the past two weeks, that is blessing enough.