We'll Always Have Paris... Right?

Years ago I surprised my husband with a trip to Paris. We were stationed in England at the time and he was just coming off a 5 month deployment. When he arrived home, there was literally just enough time for him to shower before we had to leave for the train station. It was a trip without kids and to say I was excited would be putting it lightly.

Well... it was a horrible trip-the worst we have ever taken in our 18 years.

Why was it horrible you ask? Because my expectation were so high that no one, not even my husband (not even Matthew McConaughey), could live up to them.

Before the trip I spent countless nights imagining the passion and romance that we would experience in Paris. I dreamt of walking hand in hand down the Champs Elysees and gazing each others eyes over pastries at a sidewalk cafe. I swooned at the thought of going to The Louvre only to have me admiring all of the gorgeous paintings whilst my husband would not be able to take his eyes off of me amid all of the priceless art. I wanted long walks with soft whispers, passionate nights with no rest and declarations of undying love thrown at my feet by the man that I loved...

Yeah... none of that happened. It was a terrible trip full of fighting, squabbling, haggling and pouting. The best part was the train ride home with Paris in the rear view mirror. To this day neither my husband or I would ever want to return to Paris... not even in the spring time.

Last night I felt a let down very close to that one so many years ago.

Yesterday my good friend Lori emailed me and jokingly said "Let's go see the movie Twilight at 12:01 tonight!"

I called her up and with youthful excitement that laughed in the face of my normal 11pm bedtime I said "YES YES YES!"

I purchased tickets on-line and waited in anticipation of being able to see the book that I fell so completely and utterly in love with a few weeks ago that I went out and bought the other 3 books in the series and read them all in record time. My children were neglected, the bills went unpaid, the phone went unanswered and I couldn't even stop myself to eat thanks to Edward Cullen... a vampire. Swoon.

I picked Lori up at 11 p.m. on the dot and we sped to the theater giggling the entire way. We both wanted exactly what we got out of the book and that was pure and unadulterated passion. A passion so intense that we would contemplate leaving our husbands if a vampire showed up on our doorstop. Mercy.

The movie was good, but it was not great. It was not earth shattered like I had anticipated it to be, so I was left feeling jipped. If you have NOT read the Twilight book, DO NOT GO SEE THIS MOVIE. You will be scratching your head and wondering how they got from point A to point B.

The only thing that saved this movie was the fact that Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson) did not disappoint me in the least. Hello... come to mama.

A quick message to directors and screen writers out there... if you are adapting a movie from a book that is so popular that 36 year old housewives hide in the bathroom to read and reread it (oh yeah, and little teeny boppers profess their dying devotion to the hero-who is a monster-but doesn't want to be one-so he is a tortured soul... hello! Every girls dream!) do not stray to far from the book. Do not add little things that did not happen and do not leave out other things that are important.

Lori and I did agree that if they were to make this movie to our satisfaction it would have to be two days long. So true, so true.

I really felt sorry for the teeny bopper boyfriend that was sitting in front of us with his girlfriend and 350 of her closest friends. The poor guy had no idea what he was getting into.

Now, just because I was disappointed in this movie, does not mean that I am not going to see it again. I will probably be there tomorrow... and on Tuesday... and maybe even next Thursday.

For reasons left unsaid...