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Conjuring Hogwarts

I was introduced to Harry Potter over a decade ago by a friend (Thanks Jenn.) and immediately fell in love with the fantastical world portrayed in these books. Since Jason is a longtime fan too we decided that before the final half of the last movie comes out we should prepare for its theatrical majesty by holding a Harry Potter party: a celebration involving watching the first half of The Deathly Hollows, eating Hogwarts style cuisine, and testing everyone’s Potter knowledge with a little house vs. house trivia contest.

We had quite the crowd at our party. All of the 20 chairs in our theater room had a butt in them.

As with all Sabin parties, I wasn’t willing to just let this be a mediocre get-together; I wanted it to be a party of Potter proportions! With that goal in mind Jason and I spent a large chunk of time making decorations and preparing food. We made mandrakes out of celery root and extendable ears and Galleons out of Sculpey. We further spruced up the décor with some homemade potions jars and few random items we dug out of our massive Halloween supply. Most impressive where the half dozen wands we designed using wooden dowels, clay, hot glue, and paint; they looked pretty convincing.

Each of the wands we made looked unique. It's amazing what you can do with some Sculpey and imagination.
We had a healthy mandrake crop made out of celery roots and silk leaves.

Our handmade sticks may have been perfect for a little flicking and swishing practice but man cannot live on wands alone. Yes, food would be needed to fill our bellies with magical fullness. However, Jason and I had a hard time deciding what victuals would be the most Potterish. Finally, after reviewing the books, we determined that students at Hogwarts eat an incredible amount of sugar in the form of pastries and candy so we agreed to make those the staples of the evening. We made chocolate caramel frogs and white mice candy and bought lemon drops, old-fashioned suckers, every flavor jelly beans, tarts, éclairs, and chocolate mousse cups. And, to keep everyone from going into a diabetic coma, we supplied a large tray of sandwiches. I know sandwiches aren’t exactly prolific at Hogwarts but cold meat pies wouldn’t have been very appetizing.

I made chewy chocolate caramel frogs instead of plain chocolate frogs. I love chocolate but blobs of straight chocolate that huge seemed a bit much.
These white mice were made more for looks than taste. They were mostly comprised of sugar and therefore resembled blobs of frosting.

Nothing washes down sugar quite as nicely as more sugar. This is why we provided pumpkin juice, which was really a pumpkin shake, and butterbeer as thirst quenchers. Converting standard soda into butterbeer was tricky. We took root beer and cream soda bottles, removed all their labeling, and replaced it with our own. It took some time but it worked splendidly.

We made three different butterbeer labels for three varieties of soda. You could chose your favorite: The Three Broomsticks, The Hog's Head, or Banshee Blend.

When the scene was set and the gorging underway it was time to focus on the night’s entertainment. We held this party in the theater room at Noah’s so we could comfortably view The Deathly Hollows from plush recliners. Oh yeah! After the show we sorted everyone into houses for a Potter trivia competition. The contest was intense but in the end Slytherin slid their way to victory.

I dressed up as Hermione for the party and Jason went as Sirius. Being Hermione was easy for me. Not only do I have the unruly hair, I've got the know-it-all attitude.
Jeremy Brown won the prize for best costume. He deserved it with his creative representation of Sirius in Azkaban.
We put a cell phone on speaker inside this hat so it could talk to the wearer. Our sorting ceremony was an amusing way to get attendees divided into teams for the trivia contest.

Creating the magic of Hogwarts was time-consuming and somewhat of an inspirational challenge but it was also fun. We hope the spell we cast adequately paid homage to the books we love.

Rachel June 15, 2011 1 Comment

Sneaks, Shows, and Shopping

Jason is a sneaky fellow. He’s come up with a crafty method for making each minute of his time off really count. How does he maximize his days off?

Jason’s new strategy regarding PTO involves utilizing multi-functionality. By getting sick right when we are about to leave on vacation he turns what would just be vacation days into all-purpose vacation/sick days, which saves him a lot of sick time. Maybe this habit is great for preserving his PTO but I find it trying. Sigh.

Jason’s only illnesses in the last year have been synchronized with our vacations. When we went to NYC in December he was fighting off a bug and when we traveled to Mississippi in February he was battling an illness that he generously shared with me so I could be sick on our trip too.

Last week I had to travel to Las Vegas for an SCC seminar and Jason tagged along. Considering Jason’s recent sickness patterns I was more exasperated than surprised when he informed me the night before we were leaving that he felt like he was coming down with something. Geeze boy! Ill or not, Vegas couldn’t be delayed so we did our best not to let his cold keep us from having a good time. Admittedly, this was probably an easier task for me than him considering I felt fine but I think we both fared pretty well in the fun department.

When Jason and I go to Vegas it’s pretty much a guarantee that we are going to catch a show. This time, however, we ended up seeing two. First, we went to Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. Although I have seen Phantom of the Opera live before I’ve had a hankering to see it again and thus I’ve been “suggesting” that we go see it the last few times we’ve been in Vegas. Jason finally caught on that my suggestions weren’t actually suggestions so he agreed to patronize Sir Weber with me. Phantom was delightful and even Jason was intrigued by its special effects. The second show we watched was Cirque du Soleil’s O playing at the Bellagio. We weren’t planning on checking out O this trip but, since we were staying at the Bellagio, we were too tempted by the ease of attending this spectacle that we have long wanted to see. It was a captivating program but it left me and Jason with a pesky urge to play in some water.

The pools at Bellagio are reportedly some of the best on the strip. That rumor is true.

Even with our two shows there was plenty of spare time to go blow some bills. A lot of people go to Vegas to spend money and I do too, just not at the casinos. I can’t go to Vegas without doing some shopping and by “some” I mean many more hours than the average person could tolerate. The Vegas shops and I were obviously placed in each other’s lives for a reason. I’m pretty sure finding cute new clothes was that reason but I bought some jewelry too just in case I misinterpreted the will of the universe. Better safe than sorry.

The stores we perused were plentiful but the demands of fashion weren’t the only ones diminishing our pocketbooks. My stomach seems to think that when good food is present it needs to eat it and the Bellagio houses plenty of world class restaurants so you can guess the outcome of that scenario. The nearness of scrumptious food and my fondness for the stuff led to a chain of conspiring events that ultimately resulted in mass deliciousness consumption. We caught up with a coworker of Jason’s that happened to also be in Vegas at Todd English’s Olives for a nice casual lunch. The fig and prosciutto flatbread I ordered was a yummy combination of sweet, salty, and pungent. Mmmm! Additionally, we practically ate our weight in pastries, crepes, and desserts at the Jean Philippe Patisserie. We couldn’t help it; this award winning pastry chef’s shop also houses the world’s largest chocolate fountain and those 27 feet of molten chocolate kept calling us back. (It really is a Guinness world record; you can look it up.) We also stuffed our gullets with classy Cantonese dishes at Jasmine and while we filled our stomachs the manmade splendor of the Bellagio fountains filled our eyes.

Jasmine, a Catonese restaurant, is located over Bellagio's lake so we had a front row view of the fountain show while we gobbled our delicious meals.

Although we had barely unpacked our bags from Maui when it was time to pack them again for Vegas, and Jason insisted on getting sick just as we were leaving, it was still a good trip. Jason’s cold turned out to be pretty mild fortunately so it didn’t interfere with my shopping marathon much. With a little assistance from our friend Sudafed he seemed to feel almost normal and he didn’t sneeze on me enough to get me sick. Lady luck and the shopping gods must be with me!

I left a lot of money in Vegas but my butt and scarf selection grew substantially so I’d call the trip a success.

Rachel June 8, 2011 1 Comment

U2 in Utah

I have been a passionate supporter of Bono and the boys since I was a teenager. I’ve seen them perform live a few times but when I heard that they were touring again I was still just as eager as always to go to their show.

U2’s concert in Salt Lake City was originally scheduled for last summer but it got delayed a year due to Bono’s emergency back surgery. The new show date, which seemed infinitely far away, finally came last week and Rice Eccles Stadium was packed with nearly 50,000 expectant fans. It was wonderfully chaotic.

Jason isn't wild about U2 but, being an electronics geek, he was wowed by their stage gadgetry.

Although I was patient with the crowds, even when they blocked the traffic on the concourse by packing excessively around a t-shirt booth, one attendee pushed my tolerance for social gracelessness. After Jason and I found our seats he left for a few minutes to get us a bottle of water. Literally 30 seconds later a random guy sat down next to me, put his arm around me, and asked if I was there by myself. Awkward. Surprisingly, after I told him that I was with my husband he didn’t hang his head and quickly depart with what was left of his dignity. It was as though he thought that by lingering he could somehow change my marital status or his appeal. Even more awkward. Fortunately, an apparently desperate woman sitting nearby caught our conversation and started talking to this weirdo so his focus was redirected away from me. Thank goodness! He’s all yours lady!

U2's stage had a huge circular screen. It was monstrous but the bigger the Bono the better!

Except for those few uncomfortable moments the concert was incredible. Bono, as always, was a terrific performer and the band played flawlessly but it was the unique stage setup that escalated this concert from fantastic to unbelievable. The 360 stage was specifically designed to provide an excellent view of the band from anywhere in a stadium; it definitely did that. We got plenty of close-ups of Bono’s beautiful face. The stage’s enormous screen wasn’t just for Bono ogling though; it descended and extended like a net at times creating a sophisticated electronic funnel. The four legs that supported this screen were about 150 feet high and formed a huge crabbish arch. The top of the arch was covered in all sorts of lighting including enormous searchlights that blasted the sky during “City of Blinding Lights.”

When the screen lowered it formed a masterful electronic webbing. Very cool!

The Dublin fellows rocked and their stage was super awesome! They played for about 2 hours with song selection heavy on the favorites. Great concert!

And just for the record, while I didn’t appreciate the advances of that creepy guy, Bono, I welcome your arms around me anytime.

Rachel May 31, 2011 No Comments
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