Last week I was invited to bring some guests and enjoy the new show and upgraded feast that begins at the Dallas Castle on Friday, November 18. Can you believe the story hasn’t changed since 2007? Me either. It was always magical, but it’s fun to see the subtle changes and old favorites. It was like I was 16 all over again!

Once you enter over the drawbridge, you are transported back to the 11th Century. We encountered a princess, a jester, and a falconer. Everyone is in character, and tries their best to interact with each guest.

We got dressed in regal wear for a photo prior to dinner which was fun to do. We liked the picture so much that Krista paid the $32 to get us a copy. Yes that’s a little steep, but it came in a very nice hard cover keepsake book. And look! It has the date we attended as well as the castle location.

Afterward we mingled in a large hall in front of a bar and souvenir shops before being invited by the king to enter the arena. We were seated in the front row of the red knight’s section. Did I mention we got hooked up with Royalty Upgrades? We also happened to be right next to the knight’s wife and young daughter. We were tipped off when she kept calling him daddy. Surely he was going to win. They wouldn’t let him get slayed in front of his little girl, right?!

I also love the food they serve during the show. Yummy chicken, ribs, potatoes, soup, bread and apple strudel– most of which has a clever name like dragon toes, for example. We were so stuffed afterward. The meal alone is worth the price of admission.

We cheered for our knight as he competed and fought, waved our flags, and watched the beautiful horses. Unfortunately in the end our knight didn’t win, but he did get to give his daughter a sash that said Queen of Love and Beauty. AND our friend Helen received one of the carnations he tossed to his adoring fans.

We had so much fun, and I know you would too. I can’t wait to go back, and we actually are going again this week just the two of us. I can taste the chicken now.

Did you know Medieval Times is open on holidays? We went a few years ago on Christmas to avoid having to cook. You can also go on Thanksgiving. Just think… no dirty dishes, no slaving over the stove or playing hostess and cleaning up after guests. I like letting someone else do all of the work! Guests can purchase tickets at the door, online at www.medievaltimes.com, or by calling 1-888-WE-JOUST. They often have specials where adults can get in for kid’s prices or other promotions, so be sure to ask when booking. Right now you can get a free Royalty Upgrade when you purchase full price tickets.

Disclosure: I received complementary admission and Royalty Upgrades from Medieval Times for myself and three guests, but was not monetarily compensated for writing this post. The opinions expressed are my own, as always.

I’m one of those people who pulls out their iPhone everywhere and anywhere and kills time by playing with games and apps. I’m always looking for new ones to try, so I was thrilled to hear about Cube Dog.

Were you deprived as a child and not allowed to have a dog? Or are your own kids not quite up to the responsibility of taking care of a real-life canine? No problem! Cube Dog to the rescue! He’s an interactive “cube” shaped dog that you design yourself from scratch thanks to some pre-made parts (and color options) that you are able to select from to create your very own unique custom pet. It’s simple, anyone can do it, and most people probably have had experience building an avatar or something similar before. Mine ended up being pink, and is pretty adorable if I do say so myself.

My favorite feature allows the user to take photos of their 3D Cube Dog in “real world” environments. Say you’re visiting the Eiffel Tower for example. Cube Dog can visit too! I’m pretty sure mine is going to enjoy being a world traveler with me this Fall. In addition to designing and taking photos of and with your dog, he also can entertain you by becoming a ninja (my favorite), chasing a ball, snoozing, and few other animations. The graphics are pretty sharp, and you can even rotate and zoom into your pet. My only disappointment with the app is there isn’t more for him to do with the free version. Of course you can purchase other animation packs (for $2.99) as well as a parts pack ($0.99) that gives you 84 more options when building the look of your pet.

I’ve been having fun with mine, and I have no doubt that you and your kids will have a blast with him too. Go get him and find out for yourself… he’s free in the iTunes store! Be sure to also check out the Cube Dog Facebook page for more info and a fun contest running June 6-13.

Disclosure: While Cube Dog provided me with the app to review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Cube Dog, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity.

Last night I decided to see a movie instead of driving all the way home and back to the airport to pick him up. I selected Beastly. To be fair I didn’t know much about it other it is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, which happens to be my most favorite folk tale (or fairytale if you’d prefer.) Also, I’ve seen practically everything else that is currently out. This movie was wrong. All wrong. It was Twilight bad. Before you call me a hypocrite, I have freely admitted that I have seen all of the Twilight Saga movies more than once. I actually own them. I will also see Breaking Dawn, probably at a press screening before it comes out. I am a fan of the books (well, mostly the first two) but I digress; we’re talking about Beastly here.

If I were 14 I would have liked Beastly (or even Twilight for that matter). My problem is that the “modern twist” on the story was lame, the acting was awful, the characters were boring, and did I mention the acting was awful? Clearly the Olson twins haven’t gotten any better since the Full House days when “You Got it Dude” was the catchphrase du joir and someone had to feed them their lines off camera. Vanessa Hudgens isn’t much better either.

Also if you’re going to do a Beauty and the Beast movie, you might want to make the “beast” I dunno… Beastly? I mean that is the name of the movie after all. Instead they cast Alex Pettyfer. I’ve never heard of him. I looked him up – only so I wouldn’t look dumb just in case he’s on Gossip Girl or something else popular that is not on my radar. He’s not. Instead I discovered he’s also in I am Number Four, but that is about it other than being rumored for the lead in quite a few upcoming high profile movies. I didn’t think he was all that good looking, but do yourself a favor and check out his profile on IMDB. Apparently he’s British and looks really good in black and white. You’re welcome.

Pettyfer and Hudgens

The whole premise of the movie is that he’s a spoiled rich kid who relies on his good looks to get ahead in life (barf), while actually being really ugly on the inside. (Double barf.) As a punishment for dissing a high school witch (it’s even lamer than it sounds), she curses him with tats and scars. He basically has a year to convince someone to say “I love you” or be stuck in that form forever. Bwhahahaha! That was my witch impression in case it wasn’t clear.

Personally I think he became better looking when he was transformed into the beast, but I have also had a lifelong crush on Billy Corgan so it might just be me. I’m totally okay with that. I was distracted the entire movie and was thinking about how I’d rather be somewhere else listening to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

Beastly vs. Billy

Beauty and the Beast is also my favorite Disney cartoon, although I loved the story long before that. I checked the book out at the library when I was 11 and was enchanted. Here’s how Beastly and the Disney version compare:

Kyle is cursed with piercings, tattoos and a few unsightly scars.

A prince is cursed with a hairy wolf-man exterior.

Result: The prince totally got the short end of the stick.

Kyle is cursed after humiliating a high school witch at a “Green” party.

A prince is cursed after refusing a night’s shelter to an enchantress in a green dress.

Result: The enchantress’ role is much less prominent, but you’ll wish Mary-Kate Olson’s was.

Beastly: Kyle has a year (until the white roses on his tattoo fall off) to convince someone to love him despite his “ugly” exterior.

Beauty and the Beast: The prince has until his 21st birthday (when all the petals on a rose will fall off) to convince someone to love him despite his “wolf-like” exterior.

Result: While Kyle only has one year to find love, if he doesn’t it’s no big. Did I mention he looks like Billy Corgan except with tattoos and piercings? Just checking.

Beastly: Kyle is forced to endure the company of his father’s house maid and a blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris).

Beauty and the Beast: The prince/beast lives with his also cursed servants: Lumière, Mrs. Potts, and Cogsworth.

Result: I’m not sure what bet NPH lost, but I still love him. None-the-less, singing and dancing housewares are still more fabulous.

Ahem.  Now that I have gotten that out of the way, NBC has allowed me to preview tomorrow night’s Community episode before it airs.  Christmas has come early, people!  My generation grew up with the animated Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas specials around the holidays.  Could it be possible that people will now enjoy the stop-motion animation Community episode along with the classics? 

If you don’t know, Community is about a diverse group of students who attend Glendale Community College and have formed a study group together.  In this special episode, one of the characters, Abed, is looking for the meaning of Christmas.  Normally the show revolves around relationships and activities that take place on campus.  If you have not ever seen the show before and do not know the character’s personalities, a lot of this episode might not make sense to you.  It’s still witty and funny with lots of pop culture references and common holiday themes, but it’s also full of inside jokes, sarcasm and adult humor that might be lost on the casual or first time viewer.  If you are a fan of the show, you will no doubt love seeing your favorite cast members in claymation form, and will also enjoy seeing them go on an adventure different from the norm.

I can’t tell you the outcome of Abed’s search, but I will say that it was a sweet and heartwarming ending (with a humorous twist) that everyone will be able to appreciate.  You’ll have to watch the episode for yourself tomorrow, Thursday, December 9 on NBC.  Once you see it, you might also be a fan and want to check out more episodes.  I totally recommend it!  You can already buy the first season on DVD, too.  Find out more about Community on their website as well as link up with Community on Facebook and follow Community on Twitter. 

What is the meaning of Christmas to you?  

 Disclosure:  I was not monetarily or otherwise compensated for this review, however by participating I am eligible to possibly win a gift card or other prize.  All opinions are 100% my own. A temporary advanced digital copy of the episode as well as images and videos for this post were provided to me by NBC and Sony Pictures Television via One2OneNetwork. 

I do not own the original game, but there are four new modes to this version: Duet, Dance Battle, Party, and Just Sweat. When I tell you that this white girl can’t dance, you best believe me! I will say that I believe Just Dance 2 just might be teaching me some real moves I can work it out with!

I may not be an expert, but at least I am able to spare everyone else’s eyes since I can dance in the comfort (and privacy) of my own home. I have to say that I felt somewhat better when I watched Dave dance to Hey Ya! He was ready to laugh at me for my moves, but I could tell he felt a little nervous his first time out too. We definitely got a good laugh out of it. After awhile it gets to be more fun, especially if you have someone to be silly with. By the end of it, we were making up our own moves! It was a lot of fun, and the whole family can join in and play together or take turns.

My favorite mode was the Just Sweat because you are able to set the number of calories you would like to burn, and then work toward your goal. It’s a lot more fun that doing a stair climber or treadmill for 30 minutes, and it definitely gives you practice on some of the key moves.

As you might already know, I was selected as one of the Ubisoft Champions so I was given a complementary copy of the game to review. You can buy your own on Amazon, or at your favorite local Toys R Us, Target etc.

While Ubisoft provided me with this game to review, the opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. Ubisoft, Clever Girls Collective and I promote Blog With Integrity. I was not monetarily compensated for this review.

I grabbed some canned food to donate, and Little E (plus Special K and Dave) and we were off to the Bedford Movie Tavern. Krista and I stood in line to have our picture taken in (and with) Bella’s truck from the Twilight movie. Yes, the actual truck. My understanding is that Sterling Biegart, a local 17-year old talked her parents into purchasing the truck for her on Ebay. It was one of two used in the movie. It was her idea to use the truck to raise money for charity. She told us that her mom actually wanted her to use it to make money for college, but backed up her decision to donate all the money instead. She told me she didn’t feel right taking people’s money. They were both there last night with the truck, and could not have been more sweet. Her mom actually took this picture of us:

For $5 each, we were able to take as many photos as we wanted in and around the truck. It was kind of neat just to be able to say we did it, and more importantly helped raise a ton of money for charity which is always good. Here are a few more photos of the front and back of the truck:

Here’s what Audra and Amanda (the event’s organizers) sent out this morning:

With your help, we raised over $3000 for the TAFB and collected almost 700 pounds of food! That will help feed 12,000 people in the DFW area this Thanksgiving, and we couldn’t be happier.

Me and Krista in the theater with Little E

Would you like to win your very own Mattel Collectable Pink Label Edward or Bella doll? One winner will get to select the doll of their choice. Here’s how:

1) Comment and tell me your favorite character from the Twilight Saga and why for one entry (required). 2) Make a donation to the TAFB (and e-mail me your receipt) for ten extra entries (leave 10 comments). 3) Follow me @laurie_pooh on Twitter and send the following message for one extra entry: I entered to win a Mattel Twilight Barbie Edward/Bella from @laurie_pooh: http://tinyurl.com/twilightbarbies 4) Follow my blog using the Google Connect in my sidebar to the right for one extra entry. 5) Subscribe to my blog in a reader for one extra entry.

U.S. and Canada only, please. The winner will be selected randomly from all valid entries on or around December 12. You must leave a comment letting me know your answer to the question above, as well as additional comments letting me know what else you have done to earn extra entries. Please also use your real first name and leave a valid way for me to contact you should you be selected as the winner. You will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail before another winner is selected. Good Luck!

To get you up to speed, I read the books quite a bit before the first movie came out. When I read them I didn’t know who Taylor Lautner was, and I had no idea Robert Pattinson was being considered to play Edward. I enjoyed the first three books for their story, because quite frankly Stephenie Meyer’s writing style was pretty elementary and could definitely not be confused as anything resembling good literature. The fourth book (Breaking Dawn) came out a month or so after I devoured the first three books (in less than 24 hours each), and that’s when I pretty much gave up on her. Ridiculous plot plus whiney characters equals I quit. And I did. I could only read a few pages at a time. It.was.really.that.bad. (IMHO)

The Twilight movie was awful. When you couple bad acting with a bad script (which really isn’t the movie’s fault because they took a lot of the dialogue right from the book), the end result most likely isn’t going to be pretty. Plus it was cheesy. And white makeup? Really? I also found fault with almost everyone cast, except their choice for Jacob. He was okay and fit my vision of the character from the book. Not that Rob isn’t an attractive guy, but the Edward of my mind is nothing like him. I’ve learned to appreciate him though (I’m impressed he can turn off his accent), and I thought he was cute in Harry Potter. The bottom line is that even though it wasn’t a perfect interpretation or movie, I still walked out happy that a film version existed and I had hope that New Moon would be better.

I saw New Moon last night with my Twilight OBSESSED friend Krista thanks to a contest from BigFanBoy.com in which I had to dig deep and share my favorite scene from Twilight. In case you were wondering, I chose the one where Edward speeds up in his shiny silver Volvo and saves her from the creepy men on the street. Go me for not selecting one of the love scenes. They are way better (and less awkward) in the book.

My hope that New Moon would be better was quickly squashed. Sadly a lot of the plot and character development was left out of this one, which was pretty disappointing. There was plenty of Emo music, extra lip biting and bad acting from Kristin Stewart, CGI wolves, and ghostly Edwards (hysterical). I just don’t think they did this one justice. At least when I walked out of Twilight I was able to say that it followed the book very closely, even if it wasn’t as good. New Moon just left out (and changed) too much. Oh, and Edward’s red lips were very distracting. He wore more makeup than Bella. I was hoping they’d lay off on the white paint too. At least the sparkling looked a lot better, I’ll give them that. But hey, if you’re into hot guys… this is the movie for you!

I won’t hold my breath that Eclipse will be any better, though there is a lot more action and we will get to see a lot more of the love triangle and drama between Edward and Jacob. That could be good, right? RIGHT?

Did I mention I have an Edward Barbie? Did I mention I’m going to see New Moon again tonight at 8:00 PM at a charity event benefiting the Tarrant Area Food Bank? Did I mention I’m having my photo taken with Bella’s truck? Did I mention I’m C-R-A-Z-Y and majorly sleep deprived?

I know, I’m a nerd. So are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? Let me know in the comments. Oh, and come back because I will have a Twilight/New Moon giveaway tomorrow.

It just goes to show how many other people have nothing better to do, too. The shirt has over 1500 reviews, and some have been “found useful” by thousands and thousands (upward of 16000) more times. Craziness! Some people have even gone as far as to make a video.

What do you do when you’re bored? Have you found the end of the Internet several times over? Do you have a time-suck goldmine? Share it with me! I’ve been sleeping, eating chicken noodle soup, and taking DayQuil for a week. Hopefully the end is coming soon. In the meantime, entertain me!