countdown to hunger games: week 8 of 16

You guys, my girl Emily is the cutest girl in the world. And she has the cutest blog. And when I found out that we were soul sister book friends, I died a little happy death. Today Emily has THE BEST guest post for you. You will love!

raise your hand if you're going to the midnight showing of hunger games.

is your hand up?

i thought so.

the last time i remember feeling this excited for a book series to turn into a movie was twilight.

and can i just say- my midnight showing experience was so much less than epic.

here i am, deep in the throes of my twilight obsession.

you know- living team edward to the fullest, rereading the books eight times each, and getting into heated debates about the characters and who plays them in the movies.

(i see some parallels to hunger games here)

but the midnight showing- oh, that was an entirely different experience.

being harassed in our seats by feisty team jacob-ers, getting elbowed as people clawed their way past you to get to a seat, and fights breaking out by the concession stand? not my idea of a good time.

i think i have blocked out most of the painful memories.

since the first twilight movie came out, i had sworn off midnight showings.

not even for breaking dawn did i break my self-imposed pact.

not even for HP7P2.

i know!

only a series as epic as the hunger games could break me out of this funk.

i am committed to attending the midnight showing, and i am committed to surviving.

i have volunteered as tribute and i am headed into the arena.

while a full-body makeover, flaming gown, and fighting lessons seem like a plausible way of preparing, i see my skills here as more in line with peeta than with katniss.

i will not shoot the crazy people at the midnight showing with arrows (because that is frowned upon, i've heard).

instead, i will camouflage myself among them on a sugar high of chocolate-y berry cake goodness.

as peeta is the boy with the bread, i will be the girl with the cake.

i consider these cake jars to be the silver parachute-streaming survival kit to myself.

when i'm shoved in line by someone behind me who was saving ten spots for her friends, a spoonful of cake will be my antidote.

when we are trying to enjoy the movie and the row behind us breaks into loud arguments and occasional clapping during an important scene (true story), my friends can count on the girl with the cake to get them through.

so i'm preparing for the games the best way i know how:

baking this chocolate cake, with this chocolate pudding, topped with this frosting and fresh blackberries, and layered it into a survival package i'm sending to myself in the arena.

and since i'm acting as peeta here, i'm suggesting you do the same.

imagine your name as the selected tribute on that slip of paper above.

i'm willing to wager there are few obstacles that a jar full of cake can't overcome in this arena.

if all else fails, the cake will be my poison berries- a way to escape when things go wrong.

"things" here referring to people who cheer loudly in your ear during the climax of the movie.

fellow midnight attendees,

may the odds (of not getting elbowed in the face at the concession stand) be ever in your favor.