BUTTERBEER from Whimsic Alley

So who likes wands, magic and spells...?

If you said, "Me" then Whimsic Alley is for you.

This is a store dedicated to all that is Harry Potter. So if you're in the L.A. area you might want to hit Wilshire Boulevard. It even has it's own Great Hall, which you can rent for parties and birthday celebrations.

But that is just the beginning.

You can buy a replica of Harry's wand, or Dumbledore's or even Hermione's, which I did.

I bought Vinespell

I also had to buy some earrings with little black spiders, reminiscent of the movie and a spell book (for my son to jot down sketches and notes) and a deck of cards. But one of the best finds was Butterbeer. Now, I don't know if you've ever had Butterbeer or not but, if you haven't, you definitely need to try it.

And you can even make your own...it might not be exactly perfect but it will be close.  Here's the recipe:

BUTTERBEER:

Ingredients 

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup butterscotch topping

2 tablespoons whipped butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups vanilla cream soda

Directions 

Combine condensed milk, butterscotch topping, and butter in a glass heatproof measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir until butter has melted and incorporated into mixture. Meanwhile heat cream soda in another heatproof measuring cup for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Divide butterscotch mixture between 2 (10 to 12-ounce) mugs. Fill mugs with heated cream soda and stir thoroughly. Serve garnished with an old-fashioned butterscotch candy stick.

(I used vanilla ice cream instead of condensed milk and whipped butter--it was delicious).



 

Name Calling

What's in a name?

I know my Mom and Dad argued about what they were going to name us. You’d think since they had nine kids, they could simply take turns. Nope. One of my brothers actually came home from the hospital with “Boy” listed on his birth certificate because Mom and Dad couldn’t agree.

Dad wanted to name him Shenandoah. Mom didn’t. She wasn’t going to give in. And so “Boy” is the name shown on his birth certificate.

My sister and I have rhyming names. I kind of think Mom was running out of ideas and at the bottom of her list, when we came along. People sometimes think we’re twins because our names are so similar. I think it’s funny because I’m older ;) She doesn’t.

But as writers we all have to ask ourselves what is in a name? How should the name reflect on our characters? Should they sound strong and forceful or meek and mild and can names do that for a character? It’s like predisposing our characters to certain traits simply because of their name.

Harry Potter, for instance, was a rather mundane name for a wizard but there must have been hidden meaning in his name…right? I looked it up to see what it means. Can you guess?

It means "Army Ruler". Or according to the UK, it comes from the name Henry, which was a name for Kings. So, maybe it's not so unusual for a special wizard.

This is just to remind all your writers and/or parents out there: names have a huge impact on people and we should consider them strongly when we are writing and/or planning how we want to portray or pre-dispose the "people" in our stories.

Movie Review Monday - Harry Potter - No Spoilers

I love going to see holiday films with the fam. Every year on Thanksgiving we've gone to see a "family" show. This year we had to go a little early because Kara had surgery and wouldn't be able to go with us on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, we went to see HP. There were lots of good "moments" with superior graphics and even a few thrills and chills but...

Overall, I'd say it was slow and disappointing. It appeared that the producers were stretching the book out just in order to make two movies out of the story. It went on-and-on, when I turned to my husband and said, "these 'kids' are wizards and witches with amazing abilities, so why don't they simply transport themselves to another place when they need to get out of a jam now?"

The question goes unanswered except to say that without conflict there is NO story.

But, my biggest disappointment was the ending. There was no resolution to anything in this portion of the story. It was apparently meant to be a prequeal to the real story, or the second part of the book-which I hope will be so amazing it will make up for the money I feel I wasted on this show.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. If you see or have seen the show, let me know what you think.

Personality Test - Try It - You Might Like It

I took the Harry Potter Personality Test, which I found on Ello's site. I guess I'm a Dumbledore.



Harry Potter Personality Quiz If you want to take the test, click on the Albus Dumbledore square or the underlined words of Harry Potter Personality quiz.

My husband took the test and he came out a Molly: