That said, it is a Christmas miracle that they decided to have open their Target To-Go pop up store the entire weekend (Dec. 11-13) in Mint Plaza with selected products ranging from Transformers toys to select pieces from the Rodarte for Target collection (which won’t be in stores until Dec. 20).

Hmmmm. I wonder if they will have select toiletries as well.

Nonetheless, Twilight’s Kellan Lutz will be in San Francisco to usher in the the store’s opening on Friday morning.

In addition, beginning on the morning of December 11, Target will place approximately 500 oversized and easy-to-identify gift tags in San Francisco. For each gift tag returned to the Target To-Go store, Target will give the shopper a Gift Card, worth anywhere from $10 to $500. For every Gift Card redeemed at Target To-Go, Target will donate $100 to The Salvation Army to benefit families in need.

If you need some tips on finding some of the Gift Cards, you can follow them on at Twitter.com/TargetToGoSF. They will give you some clues about some of the locations.

The store will be open from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. daily. So get your shop on.

God bless us everyone!

Check out this brilliant one-minute version of the movie (actually, it’s one minute and 18 seconds):

The heavy panting and lip biting is Oscar-worthy.

The day that The Twilight Saga: New Moon came out in theaters is going to be known as the day that the loudest, collective tween squeal was heard around the world.

In the second installment of the lovelorn book-to-movie vampire franchise, Bella (Kristen Stewart) is faced with a loss and a gain. Her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) breaks up with her in the woods and leaves her to sob in her angsty self-pity because of a near-death incident at her birthday party, while Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) is the BFF beefcake russet-colored shoulder for her to cry on.

In turn, the love triangle is officially cemented and it introduces werewolves, acts of self-masochistic desperation, a trip to Italy, evil vampire royalty and even more romance that made me roll my eyes and giggle with delight.

In the beginning of the movie, Bella turns 18 years old, which makes her think, “OMG. I am going to get really old and eventually wear orthopedic shoes while my boyfriend is going to remain hot like a Euro indie band member.” We all know where this is leading. She wants to become a vampire. This is basically a set up for the third film, Eclipse.

Jacob (looking like a member of a God-awful ’80s hair band – he looks much better with short hair) gives Bella a birthday gift. A dream catcher. This gift is the perfect way to describe this highly anticipated movie. It’s a mystic piece of iconic art that holds meaning to a culture. It has a purpose and is very beautiful at first sight. However, the more you look at it, the more it becomes a kitschy novelty gift found next to tacky turquoise jewelry at a gas station somewhere in the middle of Arizona.

That said, the movie is a cinematic dream catcher: corny, yet endearing.

New Moon wasn’t my favorite book of the series. It was one long-winded syrupy set-up to the more adventurous and dangerous third part. However, director Chris Weitz and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg turned Stephenie Meyer’s novel into something semi-tolerable – even if it did have an enormous amount of romantic gag-worthy one-liners and gratuitous shots of shirtless guys.

The movie is what Twilight should have been. It is more thoughtful, less cliche and had less of a saccharine-infused soul. Most of all, it has a bigger budget (take note of the yellow Porshe in the Italy scenes). The cinematic style makes up for its occasional lack of substance. The warm, sepia-toned palette contrasts with the first film’s cold and icy hues. It made me look past those Edward “the friendly ghost” hallucinations and Jacob’s “you don’t want to see me angry” tough guy swagger. Lautner’s boyishly button-nosed face did not quite match up with his attempt to be a wolf boy who steals catchphrases from big green short-tempered Marvel superheroes.

Stewart as the stale and sorrowful Bella wasn’t exactly the greatest thing in the movie – and she’s in a lot of it. Bella is such a Debbie Downer. Her mouth has the inability to crack a smile and it seems like her emotional switch is constantly set on depressed. On the other hand, if Bella is supposed to be a girl who sounds constipated all the time and has exhausting co-dependency issues, then Stewart did a bang up job.

As more bare torsos and emotional constipation flashed on the screen, familiar feelings from the book started to float to the top. The three main characters got whiny, needy, ridiculous and most of all, irritating. But they are teenagers – what do you expect? This is exactly why it will be a hit with this generation. It shows that teenage love is the same no matter what your supernatural species.

The introduction of the wolf pack (played by the bohunk, skin-baring quartet of Tyson Houseman, Kiowa Gordon, Alex Meraz, and Chaske Spencer) livened up the screen for a refreshing break from the soap opera. Towards the end, the Volturi, the malicious arbitrators of vampire law, came on the screen and reinvigorated my interest. With Michael Sheen as the ominously snide Aro and Dakota Fanning as the petite and creepy Jane, there was no choice but to pay attention. Plus, there is a certain joy one gets when evil people try to ruin other people’s happiness. I think I do that everyday.

New Moon made up for what Twilight didn’t accomplish. In other words, it was better. Between the movie and the book, the movie is the lesser of the two evils. Once you tell yourself that this is geared more towards teens and less towards overthinking, impatient adults, then the movie will be worth your 131 minutes. Grade: B

For more of my ‘New Moon’ coverage click here

Oh wait. They already did that.

Greene and Lutz play Alice and Emmett, members of the “vegetarian” Cullen family and siblings to the emo and lovelorned Edward (Pattinson). In all honesty, these two are not on the same tabloid celeb level as Pattinson, Lautner and Kristen Stewart (who plays the angsty heroine Bella) – and perhaps that’s a good thing.

As we sit there and wait, the other three journalists and I share our affection for the film. All three of them are lukewarm and a bit nonchalant towards the franchise. Some of them haven’t even read the books. I am discreet and say, “Yeah, I read the books and keep up with the franchise, but it’s a part of my job. I’m not one of those crazy fans.”

Minutes pass and Greene and Lutz still haven’t made their entrance. We are still discussing the phenomenon and I start divulging all my knowledge about the books and first movie. I even told them my experience with interviewing Robert Pattinson last year when he came to San Francisco and the mayhem happened at Stonestown.

“You are so a fan!” one of the journalists laughed.

She was right. I am a fan. And she outted me.

Just before I could back myself up, the two stars enter the room.

“Is this being filmed?” asked Lutz as he walked in with a jock swagger. He’s is what I expected him to be: a charming frat boy. But with his leather jacket, sweater, and jeans, he had an edge that subtracted the douche factor of a regular frat boy.

After learning that the interview wasn’t being filmed, he said, “Good!” and plopped down in one of the seats and propped his dingy-chic motorcycle boots on the table with a relaxing smile.

Demurely, Greene flashed us a smile. Wearing a Gryphon coat, a vibrant yellow dress and thigh-high Jimmy Choos, she sat right next to me. I mean, how could she not? I am irresistible.

As I look at her, she has an alien-like beauty that is mesmerizing. Her cat-like eyes and her fresh face pull me in. Her face is a magnet for double takes. I want to stare at her for hours.

Even though they don’t grab much screen time in New Moon, the two are integral cogs in the phenomenon. Considering they were a part of the film, it’s obvious that they are 100 percent aware of this. In the first two books, their characters are not in many scenes and Lutz says that they try to adhere to the book. He also points out that their limited screen time is a delightful tease to the third part, Eclipse.

“The scenes are crucial to the story,” says Lutz. “I worked on week in that movie for about a week.”

“The third film you see a lot more of the Cullens,” adds Greene. “My character got a larger role. Alice is the only Cullen other than Edward that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning of (New Moon) you see her throw this huge party for Bella. Alice also takes Bella to Italy where they’re fighting to save her brother’s life. You get to see the relationship develop between her and Bella – and you didn’t see it that much in the first one. The movie is all about romance and why these people are willing to die for each other.”

Romance is certainly evident in the film and, based on the first one, it’s aimed at tweens via overtures of devotion and affection which kind of make me cringe – just like how I know I will cringe when I hear my awkward giggles in the playback of the interview.

I don’t usually like roundtables, but when it’s only four journalists, it’s a more intimate. It’s like we are all having enlightening dinner conversation – but without the food.

As I am scribbling notes, one of the journalists brings up the question about working with multiple directors. For Twilight they worked with Catherine Hardiwicke; New Moon with Chris Weitz and with 2010’s Eclipse, they worked with David Slade.

“Damn, “ I thought. “That’s such a good question. Why didn’t I come up with it?”

“Each director is going to be different,” starts Greene.”The books all have very different tones. I think it’s highly appropriate that we do switch directors. The first one was very much a romance. It was scenic and beautiful. Catherine (Hardiwicke) was really good at capturing that. She’s very high energy and works well in chaos. It was fantastic because we really didn’t know what we were getting into. She was there to guide us when we were freaking out. We were sad to lose her when we moved on to the second film. We moved on to Chris Weitz and he’s so giving, caring and collaborative. He created this safe atmosphere for us. It was really nice that he was on the same page as us. The second one is a warmer film – even in the color scheme. The first one had blue tones and the second one is richer and warmer and he did a good job at capturing that. We just finishing shooting the third one with David Slade. I think he’s highly appropriate as well. He did 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. They are both dark and edgy films. Eclipse is very much that. I think it’s going to be fantastic. He is technically the most advanced director. He knows that tweaking something can affect the whole scene – he was really nice to work with.”

Greene’s answers are thoughtful and very detailed, which shows her insight into this film. She’s dedicated to the franchise. She knows her stuff. Even so, I think to myself, “Wow. That was a long answer. It’s going to take me a while to transcribe that.” It’s all for the sake of accurate journalism.

As she finishes talking, I see a window for me to throw my hat into the interview: “Why do you think people have an obsession with vampire mythology? It seems that vampires go through this pop culture cycle. We’ve seen it with Interview with a Vampire and even with films before that. How do you think it has parallels to our social climate?”

Without missing a beat, Greene chimes in: “I think this film is highly relatable. There’s a lot of situations that people can relate to. There’s the love story – and everyone could relate to being in love – or being in lust (laughs). It adds that next level of fantasy. Vampires are mysterious, sensual, dangerous and unattainable – and everyone wants what they can’t have.”

“It’s a good escape,” says Lutz as he shifts in his seat. “It deals with so many situations on so many positive notes. It deals with everyday issues on bigger levels.”

I thought my question was good. By adding smart phrases and words like “mythology” and “parallels to our social climate” I felt that I was being a good journalist – perhaps even a pompous one.

The six of us chat some more and then we reach a point where we talk about the obsessed fans. Lutz gave a humble take on the issue.

“I feel like it’s unearned in a way,” says Lutz. “The fans are making are careers. Without them, we wouldn’t be doing this saga. There are so many times when a series of books become a movie and the first one bombs and that’s it.”

“I still think we are all trying to wrap our heads around what’s happening,” adds Greene. “We kept very busy from one film to the next. It’s only those brief moments when you can sit back and take a breath and say ‘Wow! This is crazy!’ We’re just very lucky. I went into this film saying, “Yes! I got a job!” Then it turned into the biggest break of my life.”

Lutz continues, “You’re always hopeful that you get to do them all – especially since we all love our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death. He’s my favorite character that I’ve ever played. I think we all hope that we can finish this series and do Breaking Dawn – but it’s such a blessing. It’s every actor’s dream to be a part of something like this.”

Someone comes into the conference room and says, “Times up guys.”

All of us get up from the huge conference table. I compliment Miss Greene on her outfit because that’s what I do best and Mr. Lutz makes the effort to go around and shake all of our hands.

We clear the room and I walk outside. I break out my Blackberry and Twitter the following: “OMG. Emmett Cullen just shook my hand.”

That was the day I came out of the Twi-hard closet.

For more of my ‘New Moon’ coverage click here

Cupcakes, of course.

The folks at all-vegan Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Northern New Jersey have created some tasty New Moontreats for all of you who are either in the Team Jacob or Team Edward camp.

Finally, girls can live out their fantasy by sinking their teeth into Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner without getting arrested.

There is a lot more room for crass jokes involving cream, licking and anything orally suggestive – but I’m not gonna touch that. Just keep your moaning to a minimum when eating these Twilight confections.

Kendrick makes it hot on the red carpet in a glitterfied confetti one-shouldered gown by Talbot Runhof at the ‘New Moon’ premiere on Nov. 16

As Jessica in Twilight and New Moon (and again in the 2010′s third installment Eclipse), she is Bella’s high school gal pal who isn’t a vampire or werewolf. She’s ditzy and as effervescent as three tablets of Alka-Seltzer. She’s the long lost cousin of Elle Woods except a lot less tolerable – and I love it. She’s the only one in the first movie that made me laugh out loud. (case in point: check out the scene where she tries on prom dresses or the dreamy-eyed look of vacant pleasure when she’s around Edward).

Her bubbly personality balances all the emo lovelorn malarkey in the franchise. Her subtle comedic timing and ponytail swinging smile is refreshing. She carries all of the responsibility as the resident high school gal who overuses OMG and emoticons – and she does it well. Really well. So well that she snagged a role in the upcoming George Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air AND she is getting Oscar buzz for her performance in that movie (reference Entertainment Weekly’s Nov. 13 issue to see for yourself). Check out the trailer:

Screw Team Jacob and Team Edward. I’m Team Jessica.

For more of my ‘New Moon’ coverage click here

It’s a good thing because I was starting to forget.

The New Moon threesome (a.k.a. Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and Robert Pattinson) crammed themselves on to the cover of Entertainment Weekly:

Pattinson and his hair went solo on not only the cover of American Vanity Fair but said bongiorno on the Italian version:

He is also joined by Stewart in an awkward embrace on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar:

In addition to all that, Lautner showed some torso with a GQ photoshoot and Pattinson was featured on the cover of the French film mag Premiere.

Those three weren’t the only ones who got in on the action. My homeboy Kellan Lutz (a.k.a. Emmett) appeared in a photoshoot for Cosmopolitan AND he made it hot on the cover of Doggie Afficionado.

Then you have all those “special edition” no-name tween mags that look like a tween put it together with her amateur Photoshop skills. You can’t turn a corner without all this New Moon malarkey staring you in the face – and this blog isn’t any different.

Overkill? I think not.

I think the picture above and the title of the post says it all – and check out the nifty slideshow:

To follow my obsession with New Moon, click here

But I do admit, the inner plastic-faced Joan Rivers in me enjoys it.

Sure, Kellan Lutz knew how to work the crowd, but it was Ashley Greene who had a lockdown on the style. Sorting some dangerously chic Jimmy Choo over-the-knee black boots lined with “don’t fuck-with-me” grommets and an equally intense Gryphon jacket stamped with hardware decolletage.

Look at those Choos

Here’s Greene sportin’ the Gryphon coat:

And here’s the coat in question:

She definitely knows how to work that feminine tough girl look. It’s very good-girl-gone-bad. And I do have to ask this one burning question: Alice in the Twilight movies has short hair and they just wrapped Eclipse. This makes me believe one of two things: 1.) Her hair grows at a freakishly accelerated pace or 2.) She is wearing a weave, wig or some sort of hair piece.

I am going to go with the latter.

Nonetheless, she was absolutely stunning in person. Her beauty made me feel ugly. Like I said before, I just wanted to stare at her face the entire evening.

Creepy, I know.

To follow my obsession with New Moon, click here

Stage 1: Any mention of Twilight in conversation makes their eyes widen and they get giddy. They smile fanatically showing all their teeth – including their molars. There is no squealing yet, but you do feel this dormant, muffled sound about to come out.

I’m surprised these girls from the Twilight premiere didn’t reach Stage 5 after making physical contact with Robert Pattinson

Stage 2: Any sensory representation of the franchise brings out a shriek: a poster, T shirt, soundtrack, movie TV spot, book – any form of media will provoke Twi-hard fans like a dormant volcano. The shrieks come out in short bursts.

Stage 3: The actual physical presence of someone from or having to do with the Twilight franchise causes the eruption of squeals and possibly uncontrollable jumping. The jumping helps them contain the potential of reaching the next stage…

Stage 4: Nine times out of 10, jumping does not contain the squealing – especially if physical contact occurs. This is when it hits the fan. Twi-hards will lose all control of their senses and possible “joyful crying” might ensue. Screaming is off the charts and they become rabid. It is at this stage when one should stay at least 10 feet away from Twi-hards.

Stage 5: Spontaneous combustion. This has not happened yet. And I stress yet.

Also, based on Kellan Lutz’s actions on Monday, certain actions can make you jump from Stage 1 to Stage 4 in one fell swoop. For instance, saying the word “butt” or simply talking about nudity can make you inch closer to Stage 5. For a more in-depth look, watch the video:

To follow my obsession with New Moon, click here