Way back in January of 2009, I discovered Twilight.  And something about it resonated within me, and became a part of my being. What was it?  I’m still not sure – maybe it’s the story of self-discovery.  Maybe it’s the hope of knowing that there’s a place out there for everyone, no matter how ‘different’ they are (feelings I’ve often experienced myself) Maybe it was Edward – who, to me, is everything I love about my own husband…  See, at the time, I was mentally drifting away from everyone in my life, and this story ‘woke me up’ and made me realize that everything I thought I was missing was already right there in front of me – I just had to nurture it!  So how could I not have it become a part of me?

Things escalated for me when I found out that a neighbour was also feeling the same way about this wonderful series – and we made a lifelong friend connection.  To this day, she is my ‘Twi-Partner-In-Crime’, and both of our families have become very close – our hubby’s get along famously, and our kids are like siblings. It makes me smile every time I think of our journey.  Speaking of journeys, we even went on a family vacation together to visit Forks, and all the Washington and Oregon movie set locations that we could find!  It was a spectacular journey that we still talk about fondly today!   And it was the first of many joint family vacations and shared holidays.  So it was a natural thing for the two of us to host a Twilight DVD release party….  Never did I imagine what I was getting myself into!

I had a crazy idea that I wanted to try a themed party for the day that Twilight was released on DVD.  I wanted to spread the joy with others, and I knew there was a lot of Twi-hards out there.  I picked a pyjama party theme, and a roomful of Twi-moms sat and watched the movie and the 2 discs of extras that made us swoon (Hello – Edward’s piano concert, anyone?) all the time in our comfy pj’s and pigtails.  We ate a ton of popcorn.  We drank pop. I decorated the house with movie posters, the lovely postcards from my deluxe DVD set, and a few magazines I had accumulated.  I hung a disco ball in my living room that is still there today! We had a total blast, and vowed to get together again for New Moon.

Well, when New Moon finally came along, I thought about ways to make the party even MORE fun.  I decided on the theme of Bella’s birthday – just like in the movie.  I made Twi-crafty decorations, we had special food like Team Edward/Team Jacob cupcakes, and wine with funny names like Vampire, Black Swan, and Copper moon.  I even bought New Moon plates and decorations.  We wore our Team T-shirts and had a lot of fun.

So of course, when Eclipse came along, I had to ramp up the fun just a little bit more.  I had the usual official decorations (which was being added to more and more, I might add) and decided on a graduation theme.  I made a red velvet cheesecake to die for, and the wine selection was all about Vampire.  We wore our Bella’s bracelets that we made and our Team shirts.

Then there was Breaking Dawn part 1 – the Twi-party of all Twi-parties.  The one party I had been looking forward to the most!  Everything I had done before was all leading up to this one!  I threw feathers everywhere!  I made a freaking wedding cake!  We drank champagne, vampire venom punch, and made feather fascinators for the wedding themed party.  I decorated with more attention to detail than ever before!  It. Was. Epic.

So how do I outdo myself for the final Breaking Dawn party?  Well, without giving away too much of the surprise, I decided against my original plan of a Twi-baby shower, and instead  we are going to celebrate the entire series as a whole.  Think themed food, more crazy wine names, and the decorating is already blowing my mind.  The party is happening in only a few days…. Will I be ready to say a final good-bye to all things Twilight?  No, I don’t think so, but at least I’ll have a ton of fond memories to take away from it.  I’m not ready to take down that disco ball yet.  And who knows, I may start another brand of themed parties…. Mortal Instruments and Vampire Academy parties all have a nice ring to them…..