DC Tweens Celebrate Harry Potter's Birthday at Twixt!

DC tweens celebrated Harry Potter's and J.K.Rowling's birthdays at Twixt today at a Potions Party. Everyone was sorted into Houses, decorated goblets, and brewed potions and antidotes. As you can see, everyone had a blast. Happy Birthday Harry and Ms. Rowling!

Let Them Eat Cheesecake!

July 30th is unofficially National Cheesecake Day, and Ms Twixt and family celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory (where else?). While surfing around, however, we found this pic of a totally wild, tie-dyed cheesecake. It's from Walt Disney World's Pop Century Resort and the recipe can be found here. What is your favorite cheesecake? Our clan is partial to key lime and chocolate coconut, but sometimes the classic, plain NY style is just the ticket.

We *Heart* Tim Gunn

And wish a very Happy Birthday to Mr. Project Runway today! We won't mention the dapper Mr. Gunn's age directly, but you can do the math: he was born in 1953.
How about it parents: do you watch Project Runway with your tween? Are you as obsessed as we are? Ms Twixt is troubled by the 10pm airtime, but we DVR-it and then let the girls watch it on the weekend.

National Milk Chocolate Day!

Bring on the Cadburys! July 28th is National Milk Chocolate Day according to the National Confectioners' Association. Our tweens' favorites include Smarties, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milky Ways, M&Ms, and Milk Duds. What is your fave milk chocolate?

Happy 143rd Birthday to the OTHER Potter

While this generation of tweens all know the more famous Potter, Harry, 143 years there was another Potter who ruled the libraries: creator of the beloved Peter Rabbit series, Beatrix Potter. We love the mischievious bunny siblings (Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail) and still smile remembering their antics in Mr. McGregor's garden. Did you know that Beatrix Potter was also quite the gender-role-breaker in her time? She gained financial independence from her parents, was secretly engaged to a man who was from a lower social status than hers, became a large land-owner at a time when women didn't own much of anything, and was a noted conservationist.

A Tween Legally Blonde TV Show

A tween tv spin-off of the Legally Blonde movie will premiere this Sunday on ABC Family (Sunday, August 2, 8pm EST). The storyline is as follows: With a legal approach to life built into their blood, twins Izzy (Becky Rosso) and Annie (Milly Rosso) Woods share their cousin Elle’s DNA, including beauty, perfect blonde hair and fabulous fashion sense. But when the teens move from their native England to California to attend a posh prep school, they end up becoming the target of Tiffany (Brittany Curran), the school’s wealthy “queen,” and ultimately become embroiled in a campus trial. Put to the test, the two girls have to use the trademark Woods’ ingenuity to take the blonde fight to the toughest venue of all -- high school.

Malia and Sasha's day trip in VA

The Baltimore Sun reported that the First Tweens, First Lady and First Grandmother headed to Virginia last week on a day trip. They began their day at Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley to view the spectacular rock formations. Then they had lunch at nearby Brookside restaurant and headed over to Monticello to tour Thomas Jefferson's home. Afterwards they had dinner at the Virginian in Charlottesville and stopped, of course, for ice cream at Arch's on the Corner. The Obama family received private tours of all attractions and were reportedly very gracious guests. Which other DC-area attractions do YOU think the First Tweens ought to check out? Reply to this post below! We are compiling a DC-Must-See guide for the First Tweens and would love your feedback!

New Moon Movie Site and Trailer Live!

Attention all Twilight fans: the website for New Moon just launched today! You can see the movie trailer, videos with the cast, and other goodies here: click here for New Moon site.

G-Force Advance Screening Tonight!

Ms Twixt and girls have been invited to an advance screening of the new G-Force movie tonight. We're looking forward to seeing the flick and will share our opinions on the film in a post later tonight. The movie is rated PG and opens to the public tomorrow.
Well, the gadgets were definitely the best part of the movie. We loved all the gizmos, but our fave part was the hamster-ball-car-chase bit - too funny! Did you know where the idea from the movie came from? Turns out the screenwriter's kid was pet sitting the class guinea pig during a school holiday. The dad was asking about the pet, and the kid regaled the dad with stories about the guinea pig's secret life as a spy - complete with miniature gear. Goes to show: you never know where the next great idea will come from!

Happy Birthday to Daniel Radcliffe!

While no longer a tween (he turns 20 today), Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter will live on as a tween forever in film. A very happy birthday, Daniel, from all of your fans here at Twixt!
And don't forget, we are celebrating Harry's and J.K. Rowling's birthdays at the store on Friday, July 31st with a Potions Party from 3-7pm. Please RSVP to events@shoptwixt.com

Happy Birthday to Selena Gomez!

One of our fave tween stars, Selena Gomez, turns 17 today! We loved you in PPP - your characters always have sass and heart - as Alex, and in Another Cinderella Story. We look forward to seeing more from this actress/singer in the future!

July 20 is National Lollipop Day!

Come into Twixt today and claim your free sugar stick!

Smart cookie Emma Watson to attend Brown

The Harry Potter star has just announced that she will attend Brown University this fall. The 19-year old actress is a self-confessed bookworm whose bedside table is so covered with tomes that she cannot answer the question "What are you reading?" succinctly. Kudos to you, Ms. Watson for not only excelling as an actress but also for having the smarts to get into this Ivy League institution.

Happy Birthday to Chace Crawford!

Of Gossip Girl fame, this soon2B Footloose star is 24 today!

HSM Show at National Harbor on July 18

We've heard that there is a HSM show at National Harbor tomorrow night (July 18th). It is supposed to have numbers from the HSM movies sung and performed by look-alike performers. Ms. Twixt is not exactly sure what this will be like, but we will be at National Harbor en famille tomorrow night to check it out. Are you going? Let us know!

HP6 Review

Ms Twixt was lucky enough to score tickets to the advance screening of HP6 this past Monday, and all we can say is: WOW!!! Ms Twixt and tweens attended the screening at the historic Uptown Theatre in Cleveland Park. The venue was spectacular - the huge wrap-around screen really does this film justice. Now, we are not of the school of thought that one must see all movies in a theatre or even on opening day, but HP6 was SO spectacular that we are queuing up AGAIN for tonight's official opening - yes, readers, it's THAT good.
As in past versions, David Yates' direction is superb: the filmography is breathtaking, the score is classic, and the actors really stepped up to the challenge. While we are unabashed Gryffindor loyalists, even we have to tip our (witches') hats to Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy: his performance was subtle, compelling and superb. The returning cast is predictably excellent, and, at least surprising to MsTwixt, our tweens' fave was Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley - they loved his comedic delivery and facial expressions. Even though huge sections of the book had to be glossed over, the script was fairly true to the story and well executed. We are again heartened to see that J. K. Rowlings' vision was protected and even elevated by the medium of film.
This movie is rated PG, and that seems an appropriate rating for a tween audience - there is snogging abound, but not in a salicious manner - it's more humorous than inappropriate.
In full disclosure, Ms Twixt chose to attend this advance screening in lieu of attending the Jonas Brothers' concert at the Verizon Center on Monday night - did we make the right choice readers? Please comment!

Review of Vanessa Hudgens' New Movie, BandSlam

Ms Twixt was invited to an advance screening of BandSlam, a new movie starring Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka (she of Disney's Aly & AJ fame). Storyline recap: an outcast boy (played by newcomer Gaelan Connell) moves from school to school and lands at Van Buren High School in New Jersey; he finds a kindred spirit in Vanessa Hudgens, a loner who shuns the main stream elements at school; Connell's character has music in his bones and through a series of events finds himself managing a high school band from Van Buren; the band enters into the local high school band competition, BandSlam; and there is a romantic sub-plot with Connell, Hudgens, and Michalka.
The movie is part School of Rock and part Glee; it lacks the saccharine of HSM and has slightly more edge than the standard Disney fare. This film is rated PG, but we could not find any objectionable content in the film. We think the PG rating comes from a mention of an adult character who has a DWI conviction, but Ms Twixt found the movie completely age-appropriate for 'tweens.
The music-loving tween in your life would likely like this film; the adult accompanying said tween will appreciate the musical references to David Bowie and other punk rock legends of the 70's. A good film to see together, but the big screen of a movie theatre isn't necessary to enjoy it.

Check out Tai Shan's birthday cake!

Tai Shan, DC's unofficial mascot, turned 4 on July 9th. We just saw this picture of his birthday cake, and it is impressive! A 3-tier confection made of bamboo, beet juice (to give it a pink hue), shredded beets and ice. Happy Birhday, Tai Shan!

A Peeps Store is Coming to DC!

To National Harbor, actually, but that's certainly close enough! This will be the first Peeps store ever. It will carry the marshmallow treats but also other Peeps items such as t-shirts, plushies, key chains and the like - even Peeps china by Lenox! We can't wait!

Rescuing "Supergirls"

Here's a book that is DEFINITELY worth checking out for your summer reading list: Supergirls Speak Out by Liz Funk. Liz is a former supergirl herself and speaks from her experience and from the interviews she conducted with like girls. A supergirl is an overachiever: the girl who has the brains, the beauty, the work ethic and a dangerous desire to achieve - and make it look easy doing so. Her book is an interesting look into this new phenomenon that, as a parent of 'tween girls, gave me insight into some of the new pressures facing our daughters today.