Detours off Britta Blvd

I made it on the Sunday Sweets edition of the CakeWrecks blog! The blog started with horribly hilarious professional cakes gone wrong, but then she decided to take a break each Sunday with a different theme of really nice cakes. Last week's theme was Harry Potter, and they mentioned they'd do a second round this week, so I humbly submitted my gingerbread Hogwarts for consideration, wondering if there was too much gingbread vs. cake that it wouldn't qualify...but I made it on today!



Not much is said about mine in the post, nor much description explaining gingerbread+cake, but in the comments among many oohs & ahhs, I got one of the best compliments ever!

"Ms Avery said...Wow, a Hogwarts cake even better than last week's -- didn't think it was possible!"

You see, the Hogwarts cake featured last week was none other than the one made for the LA movie premiere of HP5, made by Charm City Cakes and featured on the Food Network show Ace of Cakes! ...and she liked mine BETTER! :D

Admittedly the reason I submitted myself was because I think mine is at least as well done as that fondant-covered styrofoam Hogwarts (that didn't even light up!)...but confirmation from a complete stranger is very nice to hear!

We started our 2009 mini-Pottermania on July 6th with a Cinema Brittahytta showing of HP5 in BluRay glory on the 8ft screen & nice speakers, 20 of us enjoying leftover party food from the 4th, and Butterbeer Floats with leftover homemade custard vanilla ice cream...YUM! :-9 Then the majority vote was to see HP6 at a sane hour instead of the midnight opening, so 18 people accompanied me to the 8:15pm showing opening day. Only Kevin C & I were Gryffindor students in costume, unfortunately no Slytherin representation after all, but I brought 4 liters each of chilled Butterbeer & Butterbeer Light (very refreshing on a day so hot it gave me Snape hair! :P)..and even my Chocolate Frog design was resurrected by my freed but always loyal house-elf Rubby (Ruth)...she even designed Famous Witch cards for Juanita & me with hilarious glowing descriptions on the back!

( Chocolate Frog Card - Famous Witch Juanita Harris )

( Chocolate Frog Card - Famous Witch Britta Peterson )


Thanks to Rubby the House-Elf, Britta has her very own Famous Witch card!


It looks like the majority voting will be for the Wednesday July 29th IMAX 3D opening up at the Metreon, then that's probably it for mini-Pottermania for this year... :)

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Music: Harry and the Potters - OMG U Look Like a Frog!

I recently saw that the Spanish version of the Muggle's Guide was no longer available on Amazon except a few copies from Spanish-language booksellers in Florida, so I used $25 of my free Amazon money to finally see what my Harry Potter party chapter looks like in Spanish.



Since the guide will never be reprinted, it seemed a shame to never have seen it, especially with the current copyright crackdown chaos in the news that is disgusting me at the melodramatic behavior of all involved. At least now my curiosity is finally satisfied, since even though I am no longer a "superadmiradora" as the description calls me, it's still fun to see my name in print in Spanish! ;)


Closeup of my name & URL inside the book...

In other news, I'm off to Disneyland tomorrow bright & early!

Current Location: at work

From the promos airing this week on FoodTV, it looks like the Duff Goldman edible Hogwarts that Robert alerted me to awhile ago will finally be airing on Ace of Cakes in the next few weeks. Interesting how the form factor is very similar to my gingerbread Hogwarts, rectangular base, castle high up on the cliff with the cliff about as tall as the main body of the castle above it, but I think his is larger overall, and obviously out of gray fondant. His has more detail, like actual trees on the cliff, and mine was too small-scaled for the details I originally envisioned. Of course I also had a dayjob during more than half the construction of mine AND I was pulling together an entire gigantic party at the same time. I'm sure the design execution is so similar mostly because that's the most logical way to construct the castle, but I wonder how many people will now think I copied Duff for my gingerbread Hogwarts? *sigh* It does not look like his had lights inside though, so there! :P heh...of course it'll only matter if I ever get a real webpage online about my edible Hogwarts, otherwise it's only on my own blog/gallery & the Epicurious blog anyway...

Britta's edible Hogwarts


Duff's edible Hogwarts (from www.rupert-grint.us)

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: competitive :P

I created a YouTube account just to host my NBC11 interview in hopes of saving our webserver traffic load...For those of who you haven't seen it already, enjoy! :)

I got email late Saturday night from an editor at Epicurious.com asking how my party went and if I had any new recipes...here's the article live!

http://www.epicurious.com/features/blogs/editor/2007/07/harry-potter-re.html

:D

Current Location: at work

We're still collecting party photos from people, plus I did clean up the absolutely necessary stuff, but decided to relax & read vs. thoroughly clean up & take decor photos yesterday (no spoilers please since I'm only 2/3rds through!) but there are quite a few good pix here already:

http://gallery.britta.com/Year7

I don't have the video yet of my news spot, but when I do & get it posted, I'll let everyone know... :)

Current Location: at work

It's all over! 78 total guests throughout the party! 5 less than the Year Six party, with a lot more room to move at this house, plus thankfully only in the 80s vs. 100+ degrees! Only 15 of them were kids, then plus Bud the dog again, who even got Sorted this year! ;)

(Edited 6:41pm: oops, looking at photos I realized I forgot three who came and hadn't RSVPd...revised totals: 81 total guests, 16 were kids!)

Peerless Potion = The Patterson Family was the only group really making potions except for Beginning Potions, so they got a group medal

Outstanding Owl Ogler = Kaelyn who found 26! I thought I only put out 24? heh...

Honorable Horcrux Hunter = Daniel - tie-breaker based on most enthusiasm that he found them all!

Stupendous Spell Spotter = no one did, so I "auctioned it off" so now Karin has homework! 11 inches of parchment to me by Friday showing that you've completed the entire quiz! ;)

Whirled Word Wizard = Tracy, since Dave, Wendy & crew got through 38 rushing to finish in time for the prizes! ;)

Most Creative Costume = Doug as Firenze the Centaur, with hind legs & freshly-grown beard just for the costume!

Most Authentic Costume = Ben as Draco, complete with freshly-bleached hair and full robes, tie, prefect badge & wand

Best Costume - Ruth as Nearly-Headless Nick (hostess got most votes as the dragon but is ineligible to win!)

The Dobby Award for Best Edible Creation = Tracia for her Pensieve Pinwheels, complete with runes saying "PENSIEVE PINWHEELS YUM YUM" around her Pensieve Bowl! It was hard to decide with some very clever entries, but that extra bit of enthusiastic detail edged her into the front running for the Gilded Sock trophy!

(Thanks to Keith for tallying the costume votes as I was deciding and presenting on the other awards! That worked very well!)

( Year Seven at Hogwarts - Full Party Details )

All guests were gone by 11:20pm, another early party end considering some of my parties, but it did start in the afternoon. With such little sleep lately plus so much backyard mess I can't really see, I'm just tempted to take a shower, leave the mess for the morning, then maybe start reading Deathly Hallows tonight! I'm meeting friends for breakfast at 8am, and I would like a little more sleep to recover though! I am now officially retired from throwing Potter Parties, since it's the last book, and I wanted to go out on a high note. I was not able to do every single little party brainstorm I ever had, but I did all the major ones that I had always wanted to do but been postponed for many years due to time constraints, so I think I succeeded!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Music: Wizard Rock playlist

After going to sleep at 5am (ugh!) I set my alarm for 8am so I could iron my white shirt for my Gryffindor student uniform while my eyes were waking up enough for my contact lenses. Still in my bathrobe at 9am, at my door arrives Kevin, aka Kevvy the House-Elf who already cut all the butterbeer labels for me last Saturday, saying "I thought you'd like someone to take photos during the interview since I'm sure you'll want to blog this!" AWESOME - you read my mind, Kevin! Thank you SO much!!! :D

As I was frantically trying to make myself camera-ready by 9:30, I missed my phone that due to the 4.0 earthquake in Oakland this morning the live reporter & crew were sent up there instead, but they'd still be sending a camera & reporter hopefully by 10:30 for a later edited spot. At least I was ready & had extra time, plus they can edit me & chop out anything stupid...heh! I think it went well, they were impressed with all my stuff ("have you thought of doing parties for a living?" was unfortunately off-camera!), Kevin agreed I sounded fine (whew!), and they have way more footage of course than I'm sure they'll be able to use. The plan is they will edit together a segment, and whoever the reporter is live at whatever local bookstore line they choose, they'll report, then cut to my interview, but unsure yet whether 5pm, 6pm, 11pm or all three. My Tivo is set for all three, but I don't have an easy way of exporting from the Tivo, so I hope one of my more up-to-date AV-geek friends will catch it on an exportable format! Mary Ann Favreau (sp?) is the reporter, and she made sure to get my URL correct since she said they'll be linking it on NBC11.com. I mentioned about my Google #1 status for Halloween Recipes and she said "We'll have to remember you for Halloween!" haha...!


NBC11 Interviewing Britta - July 20th

I'm on too much adrenaline to take a nap, and my dragon costume isn't ready yet and I wanted to wear it to the bookstore tonight...still have to finish the last ice cream cone spires on the edible Hogwarts castle, which was used as the backdrop for my interview. That was totally worth the lack of sleep to have it so ready for TV, even though it's not quite complete! :D

Party tomorrow & plenty to do! Everyone enjoy their weekend, HP-related or otherwise!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: hyper
Current Music: WIzard Rock iTunes playlist

Oh my gosh...NBC11 just called and their feature reporter really wants to do the story but he's the live at 10am guy, so he'll be here with the truck & broadcast mast at 9:30!!! I gotta set my alarm to be hair & makeup ready before they get here!

So please everyone local, set your Tivos for NBC11 for 10am, and she said it'll be on a LOT, at 5pm, 11pm, maybe Saturday too!

*breathe, breathe*

Done with 11 chocolate cakes to make up the cake cliffs, all the gingerbread castle buildings are assembled except for each roof, but entire display still needs assembly...going to the grocery store now for the last fresh provisions..I usually do that the night before, but since NBC11 wants to see some food mocked up in the morning, I'm going now!

Current Location: Brittahytta

This article came out today, for the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune:

Pigging out at Hogwarts

NBC11 will be coming to my house 11am on Friday to interview me in my decor - ack! All you Bay Area crew, set your Tivos for the news! Hope I don't sound stupid! :P

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: excited

Of course the Pottermania really started back months ago when I was shocked that Book 7 would be released this year! I've now reached the magic $100 mark where Google AdSense will actually send me a payment, even though Hogwarts has only barely edged out Halloween in my total ad revenue...heh! I've had three party RSVPs by actual owls, two adorable plush owls & one beautiful card, which make me grin from ear to ear! :) Only two press inquiries about my recipes so far this time around, but I'm flooded with email requests for the free download of my Year 6 Marauder's Map...I've had about 120 requests just since June 26th! A rough count since I've started only sending them out via email not quite a year ago brings me to estimate conservatively perhaps 1000 copies have been downloaded for personal fan use. I swear by now it seems like any Potter-themed birthday party, book release party, or movie party will be using my map in some fashion this year...crazy!

( Return of Wizard Rock )


Harry and the Potters in Palo Alto


( IMAX 3D=awesome! :D )


14 Witches & Wizards at the Metreon


( Potter Party Prep Progress )


Horcruxes in process

...and on that note, off to get more stuff done!

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: excited

An engagement party which overlaps at least half if not more of my guest list has just been scheduled exactly the same night as my final Hogwarts bash, which means the main crowd will be leaving my party before it even really gets going and won't come in costume, or they just won't come to my party at all & go straight up to the city. Trying to start my party any earlier then 4pm, it'll be too scorching hot for anyone to enjoy themselves, let alone I know there's no way I'll be completely ready for guests that early. I've even made significant progress these past few days on my dragon costume and almost completed the ice treasure chest, too... I don't begrudge the happy couple of course or anyone who wants to celebrate with them (sure wish I could celebrate with them myself!), it just really sucks that I happen to be the conflict, since I don't want people to have to choose...*sigh*

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: discouraged

I just read that PotterParties.com has been resurrected by The Leaky Cauldron, with what seems like little credit to the original content-generators from two years ago. Individual recipes are still credited, but all of my leader paragraphs of suggestions from the main decor, recipes and costume sections are no longer credited to me, since last time I was listed at the front of the How to Host section as the "expert", and now there is no mention of my name at all. I think I might even write a note to TLC saying that although my content was allowed to be used in good faith, it was with credit, and I don't feel it is proper for them to use the same content this time around without crediting the source. All they'd need to do is preface each section that contains my content with "from Potter Party hostess Britta Peterson (link)" or something similarly simple and I'd be fine. The ideas from other contributors are still credited as "submitted by" since they were set off from my content originally. Perhaps they didn't realize that by redesigning their home page, they removed any mention of my name? We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

( more candid thoughts... )

I am still excited for the movie & book, and I will have a great time planning my last Potter party and my friends will all have a blast attending, but I'm not even sure I should spend the time & effort on getting my other Hogwarts parties on my website, since what will the demand be after the last book has already come & gone? Perhaps for the last two movies, but I seriously doubt there will be as much attention as has been the past several years. I think my time is better spent working on Halloween parties, especially my still-in-progress book, which of course is on hold until after July 21st at this rate!

Enough...I'm still not fully well so I need to get to sleep but I had to get that off my chest tonight...hope everyone had a good weekend!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: annoyed

I've been so busy, plus it's been a matter of choosing what to say, since so many things have been going on...but when two or more people ask "you haven't blogged in awhile, are you ok?" I guess it's time for at least a little catchup! :)

I guess my last post was about Robin's lame ER bills. A few generous people contributed, so Robin has $376.36 waiting in her new PayPal account to be used to chip away at a tiny bit of that horrendous bill. Donations can still be accepted of course if you feel so inclined. The odd number is because to accept credit/debit cards, people had to send to my account which took out fees, so whatever was left after fees went from my account to Robin's as PayPal cash...little did I know it'd be such a hassle!

We had a Choral Project concert up in Santa Rosa on March 25th that went very well, with complete strangers coming up to us raving about how much they enjoyed the concert...which is always nice to hear! We actually sold out our CD stock that we brought to that concert, so that was amazing! Should have brought more I guess! We're also doing pretty darn well at iTunes sales so far, which is really cool to hear...I'm still amazed that my solo on Mary's Little Boy Child ended up on the preview clip! :-o

My garden is doing well. I did get irrigation for the new concrete patio installed, just some mini-half-circle sprayers, but some of the baby tears inbetwen the pavers got crunchy before then, so I'll probably have to dig up some more from the volunteer bumper crop on the north side of my house. My roses started going to town while I wasn't noticing (hooray for pruning properly in December AND planting red onions between as organic insect control!), so Sunday morning I already deadheaded a bunch of blooms! I also pruned my lilac tree since so many branches were crossing, so I have two giant lilac bouquets in the house now!

Solar might not be the project for 2007, since Nanosolar is an up & coming new technology that should be 10% of the cost of standard PV panels, which sounds worth waiting for. I had an appointment with a friend of a friend "green" contractor last week, who recommended improving the efficiency of my house for the major expense vs. solar right now, especially with Nanosolar already constructing their first plant in San Jose for production in 2007, so he's getting me leads for new HVAC (including roof-mounted AC and replacement furnace), new polyurethane foam roof (R24 insulation! attic fiberglass gets max of something like R14 only if properly installed, and I have no attic option anyway), and blowing insulation into my exterior walls by punching small holes in the stucco. Unfortunately my gas supply line is too small for a tankless water heater, so my existing functional water heater will probably stay as-is for this year, since it actually fits in my utility closet, and with a new furnace space inside there might be an issue to solve later!

As an excuse for getting some college friends together I haven't seen in awhile, plus I've discovered some more recently-acquired friends are also fans, I had Mystery Science Theatre March Madness, which was a Saturday afternoon BBQ plus two MST3K movies, Hobgoblins (ARGH! SOOO painful!) and the infamous Mitchell! It was a lot of fun, and the majority opinion was to have another one soon...so it'll just be a matter of fitting it into my hectic schedule!

Speaking of hectic schedules, yes, inbetween concerts and dates (! - yes, still going well with Patrick! :D ), I'm already working on the Big Bash, aka Final Festivities, aka Year 7 at Hogwarts for July 21st. Copious supplies have been ordered and/or received, decorations are in the works, my costume is designed, but there is so much to do! I'm putting extra pressure on myself since I'm considering this to be my last chance to do some of the ideas I've had since 2000 but ran out of time for the previous parties...like the edible Hogwarts gingerbread castle centerpiece, edible Mandrake Seedlings, edible bugs for Potions, Sugar Quills, Ice Mice, Polyjuice Potion, etc, etc, plus it's a new location with this house, so I have to figure out the most logical party setup, which will include a new Marauder's Map too...I hope I can do it all!

Current Location: at work

Just had to post my success...due to nagging by complete strangers so I guess you could say "popular demand" the first how-to page is online before any of the rest of the website is anywhere near ready...yes, it is the Marauders' Map. Amazing how just a little commment at the very end of my Year Six party FAQ has had strangers asking about it already!

http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/Year6/prep/map.html

Now for some sleep...

Current Mood: sleepy

*sigh*

ARGH!

hilarious bits too of course...

How sad is it that you are jealous of fictional characters half your age for their love lives? ;)

Anyway, I won't say anything more for now...my original guess for the HBP was wrong, but a co-worker called it, and in the beginning of reading the book I did start suspecting who it ended up being...cryptic enough for ya? ;)

Now I can finally get some much-needed sleep...only 4 hrs each night Friday & Saturday due to the party, then last night between cleaning & photos I read until midnight when my eyes could no longer stay open, but it was warm enough I had trouble sleeping, then the damn cat decided to be annoying starting at 5am, plus a full day of work...

On the plus side, my party photos are on my home gallery, along with those taken by some other party guests...

http://camera.britta.com/gallery/Year6

Good night!

Current Mood: done

Sorry I was much too busy to post any further updates before the party, but that's the way it goes!

Last night around 10pm, mrmouse went in dementor costume, along with hp_jenorama in full Ravenclaw Quidditch gear to the Sunnyvale Borders to stand in line for our 18-book order for the party. At 11:30pm, chanteuse77 as a Muggle (slacker because her costume was all finished! Admittedly it would not have fit in the Briata over to Borders, so probably just as well) and I as Bellatrix joined them, staying until 1:30 to actually get our books! mrmouse left his in the batch until leaving the party to avoid temptation, but chanteuse77 read the first chapter this morning. I did not want to be tempted to keep reading vs. party prep, let alone be careful when talking to party guests, so I have not yet opened the books, let alone even reading the inside cover!

It was overall a successful day amongst many glitches, even though not necessarily a success in the way I envisioned. Too hot for many planned activites, and not enough table space for all the food that did actually arrive (some fabulously creative entries!), but people (I'm counting about 83, but it really seemed like more I think!) all still said they had a great time, which is what matters! :)

( Black wigs itch horribly on a hot day! )

Since it's much too dark at this hour, after a bunch more chatting into the wee hours with my overnight guest, the leftovers I'd like to save to eat later have been put away if they need to (cookies & breads last fine) with the major cleanup to happen tomorrow when I can see clearly. Before we can try waffles for brunch since I'd like to play hostess to my overnight guest, I need to find the kitchen counters in all the mess!

Oh, and my cat has gotten out after being social after it was down to just the 5 of us towards the end, and being a black cat I can't find her for anything...this will be the first night she's been out by herself ever, so I hope she's okay. I even poured out some crunchy food so she'd hear, so I've left her a way back in & hope she'll come back when she's hungry... :(

Update: Kylie was back inside, acting nonchalantly, as of ~4:30am...whew! I'll be able to sleep much better now knowing she's safe inside... :)

Current Mood: pleased

I got this email from an East Coast co-worker this morning:


So I was reading the Post Food section, and saw the tease on the front page about the Harry Potter feast. I said to myself, I should send the link to Britta.

Imagine my surprise when I see you're credited with one of the recipes!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/05/AR2005070500403.html


This one didn't contact me personally, so either they found PotterParties.com & actually paid attention to the crediting, or they found my website directly. Either way, it's nice they credited me properly. :)

More party progress later when I get photos loaded in...among other things, the tree trunk garbage can is finished! woohoo!

Current Mood: pleased

Even with attending the SF Symphony fireworks concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre Monday evening, I have gotten a lot of party prep done this week...scarily I'm feeling like I'll actually get everything done...we'll see what really happens! ;)

Here's some of what's happened since I last checked in...
( Read more... )
Only one week to go - wheeeeee! :D

Current Mood: accomplished

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Lifestyle/Headlines/03AccentFOOD01070605.htm

Excerpt:

"If Hogwarts had Home Economics, then Britta Peterson would be the teacher. She's with the Web site PotterParties.com, and knows a thing or two about the importance of setting the right mood.

"I go all out for my 'Harry Potter' parties, transforming my house into Hogwarts, complete with fake stone walls and Quidditch hoops in my backyard," she said.

If that's a bit too involved, she recommends using a plastic cauldron as a centerpiece, turning ordinary books into "spell books," and having a few magic wands on hand. The Web site has a lengthy list of decorating ideas, complete with instructions. Go to www.potterparties.com for details."


Especially funny since I've never taken a Home Ec class in my life! haha...! Yes, this was an "interview" via email, since he wrote to PotterParties.com about this article, and since he was asking about the party planning side, they suggested I reply to him. :)

Current Mood: amused