They Say Patience Is A Virtue...

It occurred to me that setting somewhat subjective goals may not have been the best idea (i.e., better manage money, avoid an anxiety attack, be more patient) but I will say patience is one area I really worked on this past year and I'd like to say I did a good job accomplishing this task. Whether it was about work, friends, relationships, driving, I've made a more conscious effort to not overly stress about things (I still stress, but less drastically) and let things happen as they're supposed to happen. That being said, I still posses all the qualities of a Type A personality and will always want/expect some sense of urgency but I've learned that the best things come to those who wait (but who also work hard). This year, more than any other year, has taught me that important lesson.

Money Matters

One of the '30' that I did really work on this year were my finances. I'm still not where I want to be but I'd like to say I took control of all money matters and have a positive outlook. Also worth noting on here (as dorky as it may be) the whole couponing phenomenon has been a fun part of the year. Not only have I gotten paid to buy a lifetime supply of fancy razors, toothpaste, dishwasher tabs and marinades, but I knew I did well when my friends started going shopping in my mini 'free stuff' closet. Even my skeptical little sister the lawyer usually leaves my house with a bag of useful items (she's even clipped coupons with me before, though she may not admit it). This is an oddly fun feeling. The $4 I spend each Sunday on Baltimore Suns has paid off in dividends. Not only have I gotten free stuff, but I find it relaxing. Go figure.

My Stockpile of Free Bathroom Stuff

Anxious Matters

I will be the first to admit the 'avoid an anxiety' attack was one goal I failed to accomplish. I actually failed it multiple times. In fact, this '30 by 30' led to some extra anxiety! As a wise friend told me, "don't set arbitrary deadlines!" That being said, I'm so glad I did this project even if I didn't reach all 30 goals. I'm excited to keep working on them over the next year and beyond. Hopefully, at some point, I will meet this goal.

New Direction(s)

After 4 years at Comcast SportsNet I am leaving the hectic (and fun) world of sports TV to pursue a new career path. Starting mid-January I'll be a Business Account Executive for Comcast Business Class. Before I came to Comcast SportsNet in 2008 I worked in Public Affairs & Production for Comcast Cable. I love working for Comcast and it was very important for me to stay 'in the family'. In many ways it was a very difficult decision to leave a dream job in TV, but I could not pass up such an exciting opportunity in an exponentially growing field. The job literally fell out of nowhere (thanks to a wonderful friend) at the same time that the show I've been working on since I started at CSN was coming to an end. The timing seemed like fate. And who am I to fight fate? The last day of Washington Post Live is this Friday, December 30th. My last day in the office is this Sunday, January 1st. I'll truly miss my CSN friends and family. I've met so many people since I started this job it is very difficult to say bye. At the same time I'm very excited to embark on this new life and career adventure.

I'm still working diligently to get through as many of my '30' as I can in the next 10 days before I turn 30! That being said I will continue to blog until I accomplish all 30, even if it takes me well into the next year. Life has been quite crazy recently, but I don't want to use that as an excuse to not get through all 30!

New life decade. New job. New opportunities.

"if A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut"
~einstein~

Learning to Drive... Stick!

It finally happened! I drove stick!!! I'm on a bit of a crunch now that I have, oh, almost half my list left and 6 weeks left so I decided to be bold and just try to get it done. So, when the light bulb when on over Thanksgiving dinner I couldn't resist asking my awesome uncle to teach me how to drive stick on his summer car (a BMW z4). I asked a few times years ago and he was hesitant. But here's how it went down tonight...

Me: "Oooh, think Uncle Steve will teach me to drive stick on the beamer?"

Aunt Wendy: "Manda Lauren, there's no way, how many times have you asked him and he's said not on that car?"

Liz: "There's no way he's letting you drive that."

Me: "Uncle Steeeeve, heyyy, question... can you teach me stick on your car? I really need to learn ASAP. Don't you love me??"

Uncle Steve: (shockingly not immediately saying no). "I'm not a very good teacher."

Liz: "I'll teach her I'll teach her!"

Uncle Steve: "OK." (hands us keys)

So alas, shocked but in a hurry to beat sundown, I rocked down Heneson Garth and Greenspring Ave like Tony Stewart around the Miami Speedway. I did much better than I thought. I only stalled out twice and I felt more comfortable than the last time I tried, about 5 years ago, which was a bit disastrous. Pretty sure most of the credit goes to my awesome teacher and celeBFF Liz. Here's what she had to say about my driving:

"You did awesome. You barely stalled. Your transitions were almost seamless. You were an excellent stick driving grasshopper to the stick driving sensei"

So, here's a couple pix once I returned, a stick driving grasshopper! I'm very happy tonight. Now, just need the Ravens to pull out a win and life will be really good.

Rockin' the z4

We survived so I'm happy!

This Blog Runs On Dunkin'

I'm giddy this morning. Why? It's simple and completely dorky. I've been tweeting with my current crushes @DunkinDonuts and @DCDunkin. Yes my search for Pumpkin Ground Coffee has led to some most wonderful tweets via the social media savvy folks at Dunkin'. The highlight? When I tweeted this pic of my at-home DD stock...

I received this tweet response...

And it doesn't get any truer than that. Just check out all the receipts from the 5 Dunkins between Baltimore and Syracuse. Then there's this...

That's right. The search for Dunkin' pumpkin grounds has now been named, by Dunkin, the 'GPC Mission'. My Dunkin'-obsessed parents will be so proud.  And please remember I'm always open to Dunkin' deliveries. I like my Pumpkin coffee with a little cream, no sweeteners.

The Greatest Bar-B-Que Show On Earth

Let me put it this way... if there was Dinosaur BBQ within an hour of Baltimore I would have had to put lose 100 lbs on my '30 by 30'.  Dinosaur may be just the greatest restaurant on my earth. I put it on my '30' even though I have been there a few times in the past few years (the Harlem Dino, not the Syracuse Dino). I actually figured I would make it to the NYC one this year and not the Syracuse one, but boy am I happy i hit up my original Dino. Not sure Dino NYC would have gotten this much of a cheesy reaction...

Only Dino Could Get This Cheesy A Smile

Some history: I love food (shocker!), especially barbeque. I went to Dino for the first time freshman year with my family. It was ridiculous. I didn't go too often until Jr and Sr year when it became a Thursday night tradition with some friends. I just love love loved it. The atmosphere is fun, the food is great, the beer selection is tremendous. The packed crowds make it even more fun. In a town where I honestly didn't like too much, I really liked this place. I had such high expectations for the Syracuse location that I was concerned it wouldn't live up to my self-inflicted hype. I was also concerned that ridiculously-health-conscious Liz would be disappointed. Turns out Dino BBQ actually surpassed high expectations! It was even better than I remembered. Not sure how this is possible, but it was just delicious. Our beer selection for Friday night dinner included Saranac Pale Ale (my traditional Dino brew) and Purple Haze (a tremendous beverage whisperer pick). Though I'd like to think I've had most things on the Dino menu, we were craving wings with our beer and picked the Wango Tangos. 

"They were the best wings I have ever had in my life. Sorry Kislings." -Liz

That's right, they were that good. So good that I bought Wango Tango sauce at Wegmans and am determined to start cooking with it immediately. Just check these out...

Wings & Beer Dino Style

The photo does not do them justice but the Wango Tango-y fall off the bone deliciousness was spectacular. For dinner I got my usual favorite ribs (an ambitious 3/4 rack), macaroni and tomato cucumber salad. It was amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This picture makes me wanna hop in the car and drive on back. Yeah some food gets me excited.

What Diet?

Could not have asked for a better experience. I've enjoyed the NYC Dino the past few times I went, but the Syracuse Dino is the absolute best. Atmosphere, food, everything. Dino oh how I miss you.

Dino At Night

The Menu

Raspberry Beer Goodness

Back To The Big Orange

It's hard to believe I hadn't been up to Syracuse since my graduation in May 2004. That all changed this weekend! On a whim I decided to make the most of a regularly scheduled 3-day weekend (thanks to Redskins playing Monday Night Football) by conquering a few of the '30 by 30'. I convinced (again, quite easily) my girl Liz to come along. Since we planned it very last minute (like, Thursday) there was minimal expectationy pressure and more room for spontaneous fun. My goals for the trip were simple. 1) Go to the Toledo-Syracuse game and 2) Eat at Dinosaur BBQ. Anything else would be icing on the orange cake. 

We left around 11am on Friday. If you factor in the usual morning trip to Dunkin we really got on the road closer to 11:15. It literally rained the entire way up to Syracuse. Figures, right? The frequently monsoon-esque rains led to a few extra pit stops. They turned out to be quite entertaining pit stops, including a Halloween themed bathroom in a Hess gas station (pictured) and my 1st ever M-T-O at Sheetz (for me, not Liz, she doesn't do carbs). We finally rolled into Syracuse around 5:45 on Friday evening. A bit long for my liking but understandable considering it rained, hard, the entire drive. We drove straight to Dino and let me tell you it was freaking amazing. I'll do a separate post for Dino but yeah it was ridiculously great and lived up to everything I remember. From there we hit up the Wegmans (not sure anyone other than Rochester-native Liz could love Weggies more than me) for some Genesee Cream Ale and then basically called it a night. Kickoff for Toledo-Syracuse was 12pm so we started Saturday with another trip to Wegmans (shopping list included Dinosaur BBQ sauce and chocolate chip cookies), a trip to Dunkin, a stop by my old Syracuse house (pictured), a t-shirt purchase on Marshall Street (2 for $15, score!) and a stroll to the Dome. We bought tickets from a nice dude outside. $20 total for 2 tickets. Can't beat that. In some ways it was kinda weird being back in the dome for the first time in 8 years, but in other ways it was kinda comfortable like I never left. Game was a blast (helped that we won)! We ended the Syracuse adventure with a walk into Newhouse 3 (which was just a dream last time I was there), a quick trip by my favorite professor's office (too bad she wasn't in town, but I did leave a note) and then we hit the road. Less than 24 hours in the big orange but had a blast and was ready to call it a mini road trip. 

Turns out there was one last ridiculously fun surprise waiting for us. While stopped in a Dunkin/Citgo in Cortland, Liz found Dunkin Ground Pumpkin (pictured). I'm convinced this is counterfeit coffee considering we frequent lots of Dunkin and have never ever seen the Pumpkin flavored grounds. Just had some though and it is delicious so whatever it is and for whatever reason it's only in 1 Dunkin in the world, I'll take it. The drive home was a very easy 5 hours. And now I can cross Syracuse football, Dinosaur, and road trip off my '30 by 30'. I'll call that a very successful 32 hours. 

1st In-Person Look at Newhouse 3

A Bathroom. In a Hess gas station.

O-R-A-N-G-E

My Jr/Sr Year House. 708!

Found: Dunkin Pumpkin Grounds in Cortland, NY

Monday Funday at The National Zoo

I've been wanting to go to the National Zoo for years and just hadn't gotten around to it which is why I put it on my '30 by 30'. It's kind of a shame to live so close and just not make it there! 7 months into my project and I can check it off the list. I picked today to go because I had the day off work as part of a planned vacation but was going to be back in town. There aren't many week days when I'm not working and in town so this seemed perfect. I (quite easily) convinced my girls Liz & Kellie to take the day off and come along. I was a bit concerned the weather wouldn't cooperate after some crazy thunder and lightning storms this morning, but alas, it worked out and our Monday Funday at the zoo is in the books.

So the good: We saw the Giant Pandas and let's be real, who doesn't go to the National Zoo to see one of the most elusive endangered animals? Kellie was convinced the pandas don't exist. She claims to have been to the zoo multiple times in the past few years and never had a panda sighting. We must have gotten lucky because the two giant pandas were out and about and one even walked around a bit proving it's not just a giant stuffed animal strategically placed. That's exciting to me, and not just because Manda rhymes with Panda (ok that's part of it). We also saw two monkeys cuddling which was quite frankly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Now the bad: The zoo, to quote Liz, was very underwhelming. I absolutely agreed. There just wasn't as much there as I thought there would be considering it is the National Zoo. We saw the lions, tigers, pandas, elephants and monkeys and such but it just seemed like we were barely there for 2 hours and went through the whole zoo. When I realized we had seen everything so quickly I think I blurted "that's it?". That basically sums it up. I grew up going to the zoo formerly known as the Baltimore Zoo all the time. It would be a whole day activity. Between the polar bears, the rhinos, giraffes, hippo house, water animals and the petting zoo (yeah ok I liked the petting zoo) it was very exciting. Maybe it's an age thing, but besides the pandas, the National Zoo was kinda eh. I talked to my mom on the way home and she said the last time she remembers going (which is probably the last time I went, about 15 years ago) it was so hot all the animals were in shade or inside. I guess I just had higher expectations for the Zoo overall. It wasn't a waste of time or anything, and I had great company and a fun Monday, but it was overall just underwhelming. If I wanted to do another Zoo day, I'd pay to go to the Maryland Zoo over the free National Zoo. Still, it's worth the easy trip as part of a bigger day hitting multiple Smithsonian museum. At the very least to see the pandas.

So the good news is that I crossed it off the '30', I ended my vacation with a day of great friends, and we finished the work-free DC day with a drink at Lauriol Plaza. Cheers to that!

giant panda

our tiger friend

cuddle monkeys

a relative, i think

our monday funday

I'm On A Jet Ski!

Another trip to Florida... another fun '30' crossed off the list... Jet Skiing! The weather here in the WPB has been stormy all week but I saw that today was forecasted as awesome until early afternoon so my mom and I went over to Riviera Beach. We rented a Yamaha Waverunner from this place. There's a ton of places to rent from in that general area but Blue Water had a good weekday rate of $69/hr so I figured we'd give them a try. The two guys working there were super nice. The weather was ridiculous. Clear skies and probably low 90s. I had a blast driving up and down the Intercoastal and around Peanut Island. My mom is too nervous to drive so she just hopped on back with me. It was kind of like being 16 all over again. "Manda not so fast! (you're going over 10 mph). Watch out for that boat! (that's 300 feet away). You're getting a little close to the dock! (that's 200 feet away)." I wasn't allowed to take the jet ski in the ocean but quite frankly that was OK by me because I'm still a little irked after Shark Week. There are some beautiful houses along the Intercoastal. In fact, I found my new house (pic below). Huge thanks to my moms for pickin' up the tab and coming along. And yes, I wore plenty of sunscreen this time.

Rockin' The Caps Winter Classic T.

Checkin Out My Future Digs.

Docking. It's Been Fun.

On an unrelated note, we went to see "The Help" today once the storms rolled in. Wow, such a good movie! My mom really enjoyed the movie, but she also read the book and said the book is even better. I'm going to try and read it later this week. If you're looking for a good reason to hit the movie theater, this one is definitely worth it.

Game On

This intro has become much to common. First, I apologize for such a lag in blogging. Then, I say I will not neglect this blog for so long. And finally, 2 months goes by and I realize I have not made a post. Eek! I could offer up a plethora of excuses (work, personal, work, stress, work, busy, the nfl lockout) but instead how about an update with 5 months to go til I reach the big 3-0!

Let's start with some plans in the works. First and foremost, I have a National Zoo date all set and I cannot wait! It's within the next 2 weeks and I promise to post some fun pictures after the fact. I'm hoping this brutal weather calms down a bit before Zoo-day. 

Dear Mother Nature,
78 and partly cloudy would be ideal for Zoo-day.
Love, Manda

There's also jet skiing plans in the imminent future. My good friends who live on the water in Middle River just got a brand new jet ski and I've obviously already invited myself to take it for a test drive. It's also entirely possible I'll go during my upcoming trip to Florida, but this year's Shark Week has only elevated my fear of open waters. Either way, by the end of August, I'll have conquered the jet ski.

On the weight loss front... I've been up, down, up, down, up, up, down. Right now I'm down 10 lbs from where I was on my 29th birthday. Not ideal. So I have 5 months to drop another 40. I've made some more lifestyle adjustments so I'm hoping I can focus. This is my biggest goal and the one I most want to achieve. Lofty expectations are always difficult and I get frustrated but I'm confident that under this pressure I can pull it off. Sometimes I wish life wasn't so up and down and I could just focus on one thing. Alas, real life gets intense sometimes and I have trouble sticking to a plan when extra stress is thrown into the mix. I'm hoping I can just hunker down and focus on this. Here's hoping!

I still have that Living Social coupon I bought for the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Anyone wanna go with me on a Sunday? If so, hit me up.

So those are the imminent plans. Still working on the full list, of course, but also taking it one day at a time and trying to manage goals/expectations. I like that I set lofty goals and luckily I work well under pressure. Now that I'm in the final stretch I better up my game. And in this case, GAME ON.

Old School Gaming

We've been in a board game kick for the past couple months. Getting mad use out of my 20-year-old Deluxe Scrabble set and classic Boggle. Sometimes we break out the Yahtzee. Averaging 2-3 games per day, mostly Scrabble. I hear there's Boggle for the iPod. Too bad I don't own an iPad. So I'm still goin old school sit out on the deck and play with friends mode. Had an excellent word tandem on Friday night.

Prudes vs Sluts

 

Caught In The Act

Finally figured out what my dog does while I'm at work... She's got a ruff life.

Molly McMutt

The Paint Job

I've been slacking on the blog world, but it's a direct result of not slacking in the real world. Alas, I present you with The Paint Job (6 weeks after painting... eek!). The painting went really well!!! I picked the Behr Lilac Rose color but ended up having Lowes paint match it in Valspar. I went with a satin finish premium paint and it was awesome. 1 coat of paint (no primer) did the trick. Now, I did have some major expert paint help (thanks Shan!) so I can't say I did it all on my own but I did much of it and learned alot along the way. The pictures don't do the color justice (looks more pink than purple in the pics). 6 weeks later and I absolutely love it. I heart color. Another one crossed off the '30'. Enjoy...

Front View Pre Paint

Front View Painted

Angle View Pre Paint

Angle View Painted

Flowerboxin'

I have flowers! This isn't on the '30' but still wanted to share. Picked out some annuals at Home Depot last week and planted them in a 36" window box. I decided on yellow and purple Pansies (one of my favorite color combos). Ideally they'd be hanging over the railing on my balcony, but that's on hold until I find suitable brackets. I initially bought these railing brackets but we couldn't get the brackets and flower box to stay securely against the railing. It appeared fairly certain that a medium wind gust would land the flower box atop my neighbor's car. When I went to return the brackets I ended up in a 15-minute convo with a sales guy who suggested I drill holes and fasten the box directly to the rails. I may end up jury-rigging a bracket but first I'm gonna try and find a ready-made solution. I found this Railing Flower Box Holder on Amazon and might just order it if I can't find something similar in a garden store this week. If any of my plant/flower-savvy friends/readers have a suggestion for me I'm all ears! Pictures below so you can see what I'm workin with!

Flower Box's Temporary Home On The Table

Purple & Yellow Pansies

A Subtle Shade of Purple

A few of the '30' are on my 'imminent' list. There's get back on the diet wagon, walk over to the Jewish Museum of Maryland, and paint a wall of my house. As I've mentioned before, even after 4 1/2 years all my walls (with one exception) are still "builder grade" white. The one exception is my power room on the main floor which is a light shade of yellow. It was a messy shade of red for a while after my one and only attempt at painting. It was disastrous hence the "clean up" job which was completed by a professional painter. My failed solo painting attempt really discouraged me from doing my own painting. That being said, I need some color in my life. I don't want to go crazy with paint, after all I tend to be a bit ADD when it comes to decorating, but a little color never hurt nobody. My plan is to start small and paint one wall (with the help of some paint-savvy friends). I think I've settled on the wall behind my bed (see below). I'm stuck on a purple. I'm contemplating both light shades and dark shades. Initially I considered a dark purple (plum) for an accent wall behind my bed and a lighter blue on the other walls. However, I've decided to paint just an accent wall and leave the others white. I'm leaning towards a more subtle purple, perhaps lavender or lilac is the most accurate description. I've put a couple of the samples below. I know it's hard to look at paint on a computer, but if you feel so compelled please chime in and let me know what you think.

Front View

Corner View

Behr Wildflower

Behr Lilac Rose

Juno Beach Evening

A few photo's from last week's Florida vacation. We celebrated my dad's 55th birthday with dinner and the beach.

stroll along juno beach

enjoying the evening beach breeze

charlie loves the beach

 

my awesome parents

Living Social FAIL

I'm a Groupon-fanatic but I just recently signed up for Living Social. Yesterday, I got this Shenandoah Valley "deal" in my email:

$329 for a 2-night (weekday only) stay in the Shenandoah Valley (plus $60 dinner credit and $15 in gift certificates) doesn't sound so bad. I decided to check it out since visiting Shenandoah and photographing Skyline Drive is one of my '30'. But when I clicked "Find Out More" and went to the website for the 'By the Side of the Road Inn' I discovered they offer "Hot Deals" including the EXACT SAME DEAL for $149/1 Weeknight or $248/2 Weeknights. 

The $248/2 Night stay through the Inn's website includes a $60 credit to the same restaurant as the Living Social Deal and includes a bottle of wine. It does not include the $15 in "extras" but last time I checked $15 does not equal $81.

Not impressed Living Social. Not impressed. Always do your research. The good news is I discovered a potentially way fun 2-day getaway, purchased directly through the Inn of course. Or I could suck it up and just go camping...

Winner Winner Turkey Dinner!

I cooked my first turkey!!! It was relatively painless, minus the mid-dinner bloody nose/busted lip (which had nothing to do with cooking, I'll explain later). Since it was just 3 of us (plus the dog) for dinner my mother bought a little guy (11.5 lbs). I wanted to try a turkey injection. My mom had never done an injection before so we experimented. I selected an uber-low-calorie Goya Mojo Criolle marinade. I love love love Goya products. It was not coarse so I figured it wouldn't get stuck in the injector. The injector was conveniently on clearance at Target for $.98. Bonus! I used one side of the kitchen sink as a turkey wash. Got a little grossed out with all the raw mess. I was pleased though that the gizzards were all wrapped up (I assumed they were just loose in there) though I definitely gagged when I pulled out the turkey neck. The worst part was cleaning out of the inside. My mom suggested I run my fingers through the ribs to get out all the gunk. I tried to get moms to do this, but she gave me the "no way" look and I just went for it. For the injection, I used about 1/2 cup of the Goya marinade. I made 2 injections in each breast and 1 in each thigh. Also poured some extra inside and on top. I think ideally you'd let the marinade sit, but not this time around. Used a little butter and lots of Goya Adobo seasoning (my idea) and paprika (mom's usual) on top. Even though my health-nutty family usually doesn't do stuffing, I really wanted to stuff the turkey so I did that (just easy Stovetop). 
I put the turkey in an oven bag in a pan (my mom makes it in the oven bag because it's "less messy"). Stuck it in the 350 degrees oven. According to Reynolds the turkey is supposed to reach 180 degrees which should take about 2 1/2-3 hrs for 12-16 lb. I figured 2 1/2 hours for this one. The turkey didn't have one of those pop out things on it so I used a temperature fork that I bought my dad for father's day circa 1995. Apparently it hasn't been used since 1995 because the batteries were totally corroded. Fresh batteries solved that problem. I basted the turkey twice during cooking. At 2 1/2 hrs I put in the temp gauge and it said 160 so I let it go longer. Well, after 20 more minutes it was 189. Not sure if I read the thermometer wrong the first time or if it just got really hot really quick but I def dried it out a little.

My First Turkey

It was still tasty. I could definitely taste the injection. Stuffing was good too. Add in some sauteed spinach, mushrooms and garlic and it's a complete meal. Another '30' checked off! And now I won't be so scared when it's my turn to host Thanksgiving dinner. 

So where does the bloody nose come in? Between my parents' patio (where we were eating) and the house there is a wall of huge sliding glass doors that slide to open the whole wall. The sliders are usually open when we're home. I went to walk inside to get ketchup and I think I was distracted by the Caps-Lightning game on the TV because next thing you know BOOM. Glass is vibrating in my face and there's blood gushing out of my nose. I was in a total daze for a couple minutes with blood dripping down by face and hands. My mom said she initially thought I fell into the glass and hit my head. The first thing I asked in my daze was whether I had broken my nose. I poked around the outside of my nose and there was no pain, just soreness, thankfully. An hour of ice and my nose doesn't look nearly as bad as it initially sounded. My dad said the blood down the glass looked like a crime scene. Awesome. It's been over 48 hours since the "incident" and aside from a little sensitivity on my nose there's no obvious signs of having walked smack into glass. And I didn't break the glass. So there you go. Turkey dinner = pass. My attempt to be less of a klutz = fail. Thankfully the latter is not one of my '30'.

Twilight Conquered

After 6 long weeks I've finished Twilight. I could actually write a quality dissertation on the relationship between Bella and Edward, but alas this is a blog, not an educational adventure, so I'll keep it brief. The good news is that the book was enjoyable and, unlike the film, I didn't fall asleep every time I went to read it. In fact I'm planning to watch the film again now that I've read the book. It was a good read especially considering my usual distaste for fantasy. I enjoyed the attention to detail in the storylines/history (conversion to Vampire, sixth senses) of each of the Cullens. There were a few things in the book that I didn't like. I felt some parts were really rushed, while others were given extensive detail. Also, I have trouble believing that Bella, even experiencing true love for the first time, would become such a different person. She makes reference to the fact that she doesn't even recognize her 'new self' which eases me, knowing it was in the plans. I also have trouble with Bella going along with everything Edward says/does. I understand it in terms of her infatuation and love, but she is so so quick to be ok with his lifestyle and the concept of vampires. Based on her early actions I would have bargained that she'd have more trouble coming to terms with (and believing) that the Cullens are this fantastical coven. I'm surprised she doesn't make more references to going a bit crazy. You're probably thinking, Manda, this is just a book. Yes, I understand, but it's a book with which people are absolutely obsessed. I kinda get it, and have to look past my disinterest in fantasy, I'm much more of a realist, but for what it's worth I'm glad I read it. I'm almost mad at the filmmakers who ruined the whole series for me ahead of time. Perhaps when I watch the film again, now that I've read the book, I won't find it so inconsequential. As far as reading the other three, it's not in the immediate plans, but never say never. Another '30' down.