Letting A 22 Year Old Loose Around Hogwarts

I told you last week that I went to the Making of Harry Potter Warner Brother's Studio Tour.

Mind = blown.

It's much different than anything I had ever seen before, and blew my expectations out of the water.

Everything is there. Every inch of the tour is covered in props, costumes, sets, secret hidden snitches, etc. I probably missed a lot of stuff, but also found a lot of stuff too (like the sword of Gryffindor is up on a shelf in Dumbledore's Office... It's so discrete and hidden up there!) 

I took about um-teen thousand pictures that day, but I'm just going to show you a bit of my favorites!

(And if you know me at all, you know that I don't even have to add the "paid for this tour on my own", "am not being sponsored for this", "all opinions are my own". Seriously, I'm a Harry Potter fanatic. It's been my life since I was 11. And all of the above quotes are true anyway.)

(Oh and side note, I say this every time there is a photo-heavy post... My camera is crap. It takes pictures underwater but no part of this tour was underwater so.... Sorry!)

The Great Hall. The real set. A-freakin-mazing! So many costumes, including the Hogwarts robes through the years of filming!

Gryffindor Common Room with costumes from the 3rd film. Filled with props and random trinkets. Literally could have looked in there for hours. (By the way, did you know that the character Dean Thomas is a West Ham fan?! The things you learn in the studio tour....)

Dumbledore's Office with everything in it, including the Pensieve and the Phoenix entryway. These are the robes from Richard Harris, the actor who played Dumbledore in the first two films. The robes of Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in the rest of the films) are in the Great Hall.

I've always had a soft spot for the Goblet of Fire book and movie. It's my favorite book in the series and I think I've read it the most times out of all of them! This is the Triwizard Cup and the egg clue from the movie. I freaked out when I saw them!

And look! The top of the egg clue is an owl!! I read the little paragraph on the side of the display where it mentioned the owl opener at the top. Of course I had to get a pic!

Snape in his potion's classroom. I always had faith in Snape throughout the books. I knew he had to be good somehow... Fun fact, I wrote a letter to Alan Rickman (the actor who played Snape) and he sent me his autograph! I was fangirling for years....

The Knight Bus!! The inside was seriously impressive considering it's just a bus! (P.S. it always bugged me that in the movie, Harry didn't tell Stan his name was "Neville Longbottom" on the bus.... In the book he does...)

Privet Drive. The first ever thing you see in the HP films is Privet Drive. It brought me back to being an 11 year old and loving the first film. Fun fact, I've watched the Sorcerer's Stone so many times, I know every single word without the movie even being on... I can start reciting it right now if I wanted to! ("I should have known that you would be here... Professor McGonagall....")

Diagon Alley was probably my favorite set to visit on the tour. It's probably one of my favorite sets in the film anyway! They had every shop from the film and even from the book that you probably never see or hear of in the films.

Ollivanders! The wand shop!

This was seriously impressive. It a model of Hogwarts! But they explain how in the movie, any shots where they go over top of Hogwarts or show it not close up, they've filmed this model. You'd think it was all computers in the movie, but it's not! It's crazy! They have little TVs showing you different parts of the film and how they used this model to film it.

Oh and yes, I'm on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team now. Duh. (When I was younger I actually thought about what position I'd play, and I'd definitely be a Chaser!) This was not only a photo opportunity, but a video opportunity as well! They had you soaring around in the TV screen through London, over lakes, around Hogwarts; it was AMAZING!

And if you didn't already know what a big nerd I am, well now you do! 

Seriously, I've been to the Island's of Adventure Harry Potter theme park, and this was a million, no, trillion times better. I also went with people who weren't particularly fans of Harry Potter, and they loved it! The tour takes about 3 hours, but it doesn't feel boring or time consuming at all! And in the middle, they have Butterbeer! Which also tasted better than the Butterbeer in the theme park to be honest! I had a blast to say the least!

What do you think? Would you spend a few hours here in HP world??

A Week To Go

Day 3 of Wedding Week is everything I did the week of my wedding!

Most people probably don't do what I did. I was in and out of London multiple times, in and out of the country, re-doing and then re-re-doing the table plans, and seeing more of Heathrow than I ever wanted.

Basically, I was completely ignoring the fact that there were decorations to be finalized, hair/nail appointments to be made, and somethings old/new/borrowed/blue to be found.

Remember when I told you the perks of Destination Weddings? This is where that all comes into play....

My hectic week was definitely not the best strategy by any means. But it's do-able if it's what you want. And if you love being on the go like I do, this pre-wedding challenge may be just for you!!

Here's a little glimpse into all of my fun adventures that I went on the week of my wedding!

Stonehenge

We only live about an hour or so away from Stonehenge, so Alex's parents took my sister and I there.

Stonehenge ROCKS!

It was my third time to Stonehenge. It was Alex's moms first time ever! (And my sister's first time, but that's not too shocking...)

The Making of Harry Potter (WB Studios Tour)

This honestly blew my mind. I am a massive Harry Potter fan and I loved it. My brother-in-law doesn't even care for Harry Potter and he loved it. 

In front of Hogwarts... No big deal!

I'm going to do a full post on this once Wedding Week is over. But honestly, it was one of the best places I've ever been to! (And I've been to the HP park in Orlando.... This is better than that!!)

Day Trip to Paris

My sister was in England for almost 2 weeks, so of course Paris was on our agenda.

Of course we also went to the top!

Our Eurostar train left at 5:40 in the morning, meaning we left at about 3 to get to London. We got back to my house just past midnight. It was a long day to say the least (and 2 days before the wedding! I know how to keep things interesting!) but it was loads of fun!

Day and a half trip to London

My sister and I roamed around London (with me as the tour guide... It's a miracle we're not still lost!) and it was the first time I was completely alone in London without Alex!!

I'd say I was an excellent tour guide, though. I navigated the tube like a champ, and took her to London's hot spots! Of course the shopping at Harrods, Hamley's, and on Oxford street were our favorite part of the day! Seeing Big Ben was great, too!  

(And I can honestly say I took zero pictures while in London. That was definitely a first for me!) 

Endless trips into town/shopping

It's what my sister and I do best! Any moment we had "spare time" we walked into town and shopped.

I'm sorry, what?! Florida State University?! No no no you've got the colors ALL WRONG! #EnglandFail

I think that was the benefit of having a "small" wedding. I had done a lot ahead of time because I fully knew how busy I'd be once my family arrived! I'm glad I had a high pressure week because it took my mind off 1) getting nervous, 2) family drama, 3) trying to keep track of everyone and everything.

If you want to have these adventures the week of your wedding, I'd definitely plan in advance. Don't wake up and decide "I want to go to London today!" Have a plan. Tell your family that plan. If they want to do something different, it's all on them. Obviously your family who have traveled have a plan, too. Some are very independent and would rather do things on their own (or they acknowledge, respect, and accept that you're busy). Some want to monopolize your time. (Seriously, the day before the wedding my dad [who by the way was staying a good 30 minutes from my house] wanted to randomly go sightseeing. No dad, I can't go sightseeing! Stick to the plan!!)

Obviously if appointments and/or "down time" are your priority, make them a priority. I chose to make the most of my family being here. There's nothing wrong with whatever plan you choose to make!

Busy wedding week or would you rather relax?

As Of Lately...

Hello from 2013! Actually, everyone is in 2013 right now so that's not really a unique statement.

I've been super busy.... Doing a whole bunch of nothing! That's only kind of a lie. But I've been neglecting the blog a bit in favor of eating, drinking, more eating, and spending quality time with the Fiance.

But specifically, here's what I've been up to lately!

Becoming a wizard - Obviously. What else do people do in their spare time? The Fiance and I decided to buy "Harry Potter Book of Spells" for Play Station Move with some Christmas money.

It basically turns this:

Boring.

Into THIS:

I'm on the telly! And I'm a wizard!

It turns that plain blue book into the Book of Spells and the Move remote into a wand.

Mind = Blown.

It's for ages 7 and up. I definitely fit the "and up" part of that. Three times up as a matter of fact. But I don't really care.

I'm levitating a frog. That's cool at any age.

The pages change when you turn each page as you can see above. Clearly there's a vortex of doom on that page, and I'm levitating a frog. All in a day's work.

Seriously, if you're an HP fan or just mind boggled by technology, you need this in your life!


Rocking a Christmas jumper - Oh yes, I was jolly for jumpers! So was the fiance.

Christmas Eve Party! Love our clashing patterns!

Wedding Prep - It's January. I get married next month! The wedding prep is practically all done. Little things like shoes, jewelry, and finalizing numbers had to be done over this nice little Christmas/New Years break.

Running - Duh! Lots of running has been happening. Did I mention it's January? That means I run a half marathon next month, too! Holy crap! But I got the Garmin Forerunner 110 for Christmas (thanks, Fiance!) and have loved staring at all the statistics it shows me!! I will run my first double digit mileage this weekend, and I'm kind of excited!

Shopping for the necessities - Necessities have so far been the Book of Spells and new running clothes. I needed some warmer running gear for winter. Except for this one shirt that matched my Team Sparkle skirt....

No I'm not trying to look like Tinkerbell... It's just my fave color!

Reading at a dreadfully antisocial rate  - I got 3 books for Christmas and finished 2 of them before the New Year. I promise I interacted with human beings during that time. I just get sucked into books so easily! #BookwormStatus

Going to Football (soccer) games - SFC drew against Arsenal yesterday (1-1). Very pleased with that result considering Arsenal is one of the best teams in the league!


I hope 2013 has been treating you well so far!

(Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. I purchased every item with my own money and have not been compensated in any way by mentioning these products.)

What have you been up to?? Shopping? Defeating Voldemort? Tell me!

How To Sound Like An Ass: The Harry Potter Edition

[Note to self: when you write those Moving to England expectations, don't forget to write down "Expect a lot of sorry I'm not sorry moments"]

[Note to you: This is a funny post, I promise... Well, it's not a bitchy post like it may appear at first glace.... I can't promise that I'm that funny... I try...]

I'd like to preface this post by saying I'm not an ignorant American, especially when I'm in England. I swallow the laughter that often occurs after saying to-MAH-toes instead of to-MAY-toes, I ask where the toilet is instead of the bathroom, and I most always say "trousers" instead of "pants" (because trust me, there's a difference).

So it's rare I have those "d'uhhhhhhhhh this girl is American" moments. I try to avoid them at all costs.

In fact, the last time I felt this silly about anything remotely Americanized of me was about 3 years ago when Fiance and I were playing the "let's pronounce things and try to make the other one look like an ass" game. He asked me to pronounce Wycombe, which is a city in England. Well when you grow up in Florida and cities are often named after all things Native American (Tallahassee, Suwanee, Choctawhatchee... you get the point) , that word kind of looks like it should be pronounced why-com-bee.

Apparently it's not.

After what felt like 5 hours of Fiance rolling on the ground laughing at my epic fail, I finally got it out of him that it's pronounced WIC-om.

Oh..... MY BAD.

 So tonight, after over 3 years of being the certified Anglophile girlfriend extraordinaire, I finally sounded like an ass.

I don't know about any of you, but I called the head person at the school the "principal". I mean, that's the norm in American, am I right? And they always emphasized PAL in princiPAL, because he was your PAL! Maybe that was just my school....

Anyways, I was trying to explain a character in a TV show to Fiance that was, how I would say, "the principal" of the school. But instead of saying "the principal", I.... well.... let me just dialogue it...

Me: "The guy was... I don't know what you call it! We'd say he was the principal of school, what would you say? Headmaster maybe?"
Fiance: "Yeah he'd be the headmaster of the school"
Me: "Oh good, I thought they only said that at Hogwarts."
Fiance: [long pause] "Are you being serious?"
Me: "I don't know what you call things! I just thought because Headmaster Dumbledore--"
Fiance: [bursts out laughing for 10 minutes]

Well sorry I'm not sorry I like Harry Potter and never went to a British school!!

It's good to know that no matter what side of the pond I'm on, I can manage to look like an ass.

So how did YOU pronounce "Wycombe" when you first saw it?? I seriously can't be the only one who said it wrong!