ANTICIPATION- WIZARDING WORLD ... HERE I COME!

After a restless night of pondering on Hogwarts coming to life right before my eyes, the time had come. Putting in the last few pieces of luggage into my car, I jump into the driver's seat, close the door, strap myself in, and start the engine.

It's already 70 degrees and the sun is shielded by the usual white puffy clouds. I have always admired this natural phenomenon. A forget-me-not blue sky with huge white cotton-ball-like clouds looming over head. 

I follow the signs to I 4  east. The Orlando traffic is somewhat heavy. It' s nearly nine o'clock and the last minute commuters are rushing to work ... I am rushing to Hogwarts. Could you imagine what a thrill the first glimpse of that Hogwarts castle will be? I'll feel just like Harry, Ron, and Hermione! 

It took several minutes to enter the ramp of I 4. One by one each car in front of me inches it way onto the interstate. Now it's my turn.

Motoring towards exit 75A, I get caught in several traffic jams. I only have eight exits to go, yet it seems like I'm moving backwards.

Twenty-five torturous minutes later, I see the sign for exit 75A. My heart starts to beat a little faster as I finally make it to the exit ramp. In another ten minutes or so I should see the signs for Islands of Adventure.

After taking about five or six deep breaths, I see the sign. "All right! I made it!"

Now the fun begins ... finding parking.  

Gotta concentrate on getting a spot. It looks like a fricken car dealership! Later!

GREETINGS FROM SUNNY FLORIDA ... HOME OF WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

After a grueling two day road trip and 1200 miles from Chicago to Orlando Florida, I arrived today at 3:30 in the afternoon. Exhausted, I checked into my hotel in the Disney resort. Plan to spend a few days here before actually going to Wizarding World. I booked a hotel walking distance to Islands Adventure in Universal Studio's, home of WW. I want to be relaxed and ready to spend most of the week there, experiencing every nuance of this exciting attraction!

Plan to see many pics and hopefully some footage (if I figure out how to on my camera) of WW. The weather is a perfect 80 balmy degrees so I will not melt.... Leaving the cold, damp north, was one of the many pluses coming down to Florida.

I don't have much to tell yet, but believe me I will have plenty after Wednesday.... so don't forget to stop back.

If I have the time and energy to do a fun Disney post tomorrow, I will try to do so. Please be patient with me, I have so much to do in so little vacation time.

Until then, have a GREAT day and thanks to all my fantastic blogger friends who follow me.

Don't forget to sigh up for my blogfest in a few weeks. It is HP themed, the winners will be getting unique HP gifts from WW, so don't forget to sign up on the linky. Press the banner and it will bring you directly there.

To all of you who have read my entry for Liz's blog. I will have a follow up to that story soon. Many have asked for details.

My first gift story for Liz Fichera's Blog Hop

We met in New York  and had only been dating for about three months. And then the bomb dropped. "I'm moving back to Florida."

Nice guy that I am, I had offered to fly down and help unpack all the boxes and set the furniture after the movers arrived. I had such mixed feelings. A fantastic new relationship and the anger of having my potential soul mate leave me and move 1500 miles away.

We got even closer the week I had stayed. Such a romantic setting. Moonlight, swaying palm trees, the ocean gently kissing the white sandy shores. How could you not fall in love? Well it happened to both of us, but my career centered around the glitz and glamor of the NY's fashion scene. I traveled a lot between Europe and NYC. I couldn't leave. Miami's fashion scene made some noise, but not enough for me to move to Florida.

After a choked up goodbye, I found a slip of paper in my pocket as I emptied my wallet, etc. for security.

You'll be traveling with a companion. Don't forget to take it out of your suitcase the minute you get home.

"Don't tell me there's something alive in my luggage," I mumbled to myself.

For two of the longest hours I was on pins and needles, wondering what could possibly be wrapped between my shirts and pants.

We landed and I rushed to baggage claim. It took me every ounce of strength I could muster not to rip my bag open the moment I rescued it from the carousel.

I hopped in a cab. Twenty minutes later I arrived at my apartment. I flung the suitcase on the bed and opened it.

I let out a howl of laughter. Sitting on top of my stack of t-shirts, a kelly green stuffed alligator smiled up at me. Between the white jagged teeth, a bright red forked tongue hung out of the side of its mouth.

I picked up the phone immediately.

This alligator is still one of my favorite gifts in a long line of other wonderful gifts ... but this one was the first.

DID YOU GO TO THE MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS?

I know there are many HP fanatics went to the Midnight or after showing! I didn't, but wanted to go. I'm not going until the 6:00 pm showing. 

TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME! IF you LOVED it .... IF you HATED it! or Somewhere in between.

As we all know this is ONLY the FIRST part. So we do have the second half to look forward to next summer. ANOTHER SIX MONTHS! That's all Warner Bros. and JK Rowling ever do ... MAKE US WAIT!

I read this book in two days.... I was bleary-eyed when I finished. After I found out what happened, I immediately we back to re-read it at a slower pace.


As we see Harry bumbling his way through the English countryside to find each and every horcrux, JK Rowling weaves in this incredible sub-plot which I really enjoyed: the Hallows. What a fantastic idea introducing Beatle the Bard.

The invisibility cloak: it was introduced to us in Sorcerer's Stone. A gift from Harry's father. The first Hallow.

Tom Riddle's ring: another family heirloom, which happens to be another Hallow.

The Death Stick: our final Hallow. Giving the wand its own history .... another thread in this tapestry Rowling wove for us.

This involved story within a story gives this edition that extra something we all expected from the climax of Harry Potter.

Designer tip of the week will be posted tomorrow. Harry Potter takes precedence this week.

TO ALL MY HP FRIENDS .... WE STILL HAVE ONE MORE TREAT COMING. LET'S RELISH IT WHILE WE CAN ...

SEVERUS SNAPE ... THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE - LOVE OR HATE?

Featured today- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

What can we say about Severus Snape? For starters he has made Harry's life miserable for the past five years at Hogwarts. And year six isn't any better. To Harry's shock his least favorite teacher is now teaching his favorite subject: Defense against the Dark Arts. 

Snape begins on the first day to insist his NEWT students cast spells silently. As we know only one student can do that, our favorite top of the year student, Hermione.

Harry's on the defensive again. Annoyed Snape took over the class Harry excelled in, Harry is now faced with taking his least favorite class by surprise. Potions is now part of his curriculum. His future career as a Auror counts on it.

Harry and Ron rush to potions fully unprepared. Slughorn offers them copies of year six potions. Harry's copy has comments written all over it. He decides to follow the scribble and ends producing the perfect Draught of Living Death. For the first time ever, Harry received top marks in POTIONS! Not only that he won the coveted Felix Felisus potion that gives the drinker instant luck.

Harry becomes more and more dependent on the book and discovers new spells which the previous owner of the book created himself ... The Half-blood prince. This wonderful book ends up getting Harry into major trouble when he uses a spell on Malfoy that nearly kills him. If it wasn't for Snape, Malfoy would have died.

Snape is now on the hunt to catch Harry red-handed with the book. Harry hides it in the room of requirement. He could never let Snape get his hands on it. In that book was all of Harry's success as a potions genius. And Snape was highly suspicious why Harry all of a sudden had this new talent.

As we weave through the story we find out Malfoy has a mission and Harry is obsessed with finding out what it is. 

Katie Bell is attacked. Ron is poisoned. Deatheaters enter Hogwarts ... and ... Dumbledore is killed by non other that  Snape! 

Talk about shocking!

Harry witnesses this travesty and chases after Snape. On the grassy slopes of Hogwarts, Harry catches up to Snape and uses the deadly Sectum Sempra spell on him. 

At this moment we find out Snape is the Half-blood prince and created the the spells Harry used good and bad.

What a climax! We are left shocked! We are speechless! We are gasping for breath! And if this wasn't enough we had to live through Dumbledore's funeral. 

How many tears stained your copy?

We hate Snape. How could he do this? Killing Dumbledore! A then we waited. 

Two plus years to find out if Harry would survive Lord Voldemort's wrath. 

We were not disappointed. But that is tomorrow's post.

TELL me what you LOVE or HATE about SEVERUS SNAPE! Leave a Snapelicious comment.

HARRY POTTER- ORDER OF PHOENIX ... LET'S DISH UMBRIDGE!

GREETINGS HP ADDICTS ...

Since Saturday I have been posting HP trivia questions from each book. After four trivia challenges I have decided to talk about HP and the Order of the Phoenix instead. But before I do, for my diehard trivia bloggers, I will post the answers to Monday's and Tuesday's trivia questions. 

Prisoner of Azkaban:

1. What did Harry receive for his birthday? From Ron- a pocket sneakoscope. Hermione- a broomstick        servicing kit. Hagrid- Monster book of Monsters.

2. What did Mr. Weasley win?  700 Galleons from the Daily Profit drawing.

3. Who or what was Binky? Lavender Brown's pet rabbit.

4. Why did Professor McGonagall reprimand Lee Jordan during the Quidditch match? Commenting too much on the Firebolt.

5. Who was Percy writing to all summer? Penelope Clearwater- Ravenclaw prefect.

6. What specific memory  produced Harry's first patronis? Finding out he was a wizard and leaving the Dursleys.

7. What did Parvati see when it was her turn with the boggart? A blood-stained mummy.

8. What happened to Ron during his final in Defense against the Dark Arts class? He was confused by a hinkypunk and sunk waist deep in a quagmire.

9. What was the first creature Hagrid showed in his first class. Its color, name, and nickname. A gray hippogriff named Buckbeak or Beaky.

10. Who takes care of Aunt Marge's dog's when out of town? Colonel Fubster.

Goblet of Fire:

1. At the Quidditch World Cup, what covered the tents of the spectators? Irish- shamrocks ... Bulgaria- blinking posters of Victor Krum

2. What ended the match? Krum caught the snitch, ending the game 150 to 160 Ireland won.

3. Who wouldn't put on pants and why? Archie, because he liked his privates airy.

4. What was the name of the referee? Hassan Mustafa.

5. What was the name of Ireland's seeker?  Lynch.

6. Which team chaser scored first? Ireland-Troy.

7. Who wasn't invited to the feast and why? Peeves the poltergeist, because he makes trouble all the time.

8. What happened to the Daily Profit reporter? Rita Skeeter- Hermione captures her in a glass vial when she was a beetle.

9. What item did the Gryffindor students avoid and why? Canary Creams- anyone who would eat one would burst into feathers.

10. What was the password Harry used to enter Dumbledore's office? Cockroach Clusters.

Thanks to those who participated and made this trivia challenge so much fun!

Of all the Harry Potter books I honestly think this one was the most anticipated, at least for me. I say this because I remember how long I waited for this edition to come out in 2003. I ran to Borders after midnight to get my copy. This was the first time I did this. When I discovered Harry Potter in 2001 when the film came out, I had no idea this was a book series. Could you believe it? A year later and Chamber of Secrets movie hit the theaters. It was a few weeks after I had seen that film, I realized this was a book series written by JK Rowling. You can imagine my excitement. I read all four books within a month and then I was left hanging for a year for the next one to come out. Torture ...  sheer torture. I think this time seemed harder for me because I needed my fix. As you all can understand.

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry is growing up. He has to prove himself against two dementors to save the life of his cousin and his own. He is reprimanded by the Ministry of Magic and is suspended and has to go to the wizard court. He is in the dark, not given any information about Voldemort.  

Poor Harry. Forced to stay with the Dursleys and being scolded like a naughty child.

After a month he is finally freed from the Dursley's and learns about the Order of Phoenix: an anti-Voldemort organization created by Dumbledore fighting against Voldemort and his Deatheaters.

Now back at Hogwart's, Harry faces something far worse than the dementors or even Lord Voldermort: the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge.

Can we dish on Umbridge? Let's ... leave your favorite "Umbridge moment" in the comments today. Let's really have a good time dishing her! I'll start ... My favorite Umbridge moment is when Fred and George set off the fireworks and she has to stop all the calamity by herself! Oh how I laughed when Professor Flitwick slammed the door in her snarling face. 

I am so looking forward to your responses. The humor, so incredible in the book was cut from the movie. Yes, they had the fireworks scene, but not even close to the book's.

These are the finer points. Of course, tons of other things happen. This edition ... over 800 pages. 

Enjoy the rest of your HP day. ONLY TWO MORE DAYS!

Many of my blogging friends are having Potter-themed posts. Haunt Jen at unedited @ http://jennifer-daiker.blogspot.com/ Jen and her friends have incredible posts. 

HARRY POTTER TRIVIA CHALLENGE # FOUR

What happened to all my HP fanatics yesterday? I spent quite some time trying to give you questions challenging enough for your HP knowledge. Were they too hard? Not for you guys! I'm not going to list the answers today just in cast you were too busy to stop by yesterday. Life happens. I totally understand. Please give a try today.

As you know we only have three more days to the big event ... Yah!

Now for the questions. Book four is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

1. At the Quidditch World Cup, what covered the tents of the fans? Be specific.

2. What ended the match? Details. I want details....

3. Who wouldn't put on pants and why?

4. What was the name of the referee?

5. What was the name of Ireland's seeker?

6. Which team chaser scored first? Name and team.

7.Who wasn't invited to the feast and why?

8. What happened to the Daily Prophet reporter? Be specific.

9. What item did the Gryffindor students avoid and why?

10. What was the password Harry used to enter Dumbledore's office?