Regency Exhibition Ball 2010

Here are a few pics from the Regency Ball this year! It was a wonderful weekend, especcially since we rented out the entire Palmer House Inn B&B!

Last Year's Regency Ball

I found this on YouTube. Almost all of the shots of the dancing are of my friends & I at last year's Regency Exhibition Ball. I can't wait for this year!

Thankful

I have been behind in stating the things I am grateful for this year.

1. My family.

2. My friends.

3. My health.

4. A roof over my head.

5. Unemployment income...as piddly as it is, we couldn't make do without it.

This Thanksgiving was pleasant, spending with hubby's family. And then we had a Friend's Thanksgiving, too. It was great, though it would have been wonderful to spend it with ALL of my good friends...but sadly distance prevents that from happening. Perhaps one day?

Burn the Guy!

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day in the UK. A day to remember that a government is supposed to work FOR the people. To me, its about a day of letting go of the past.

A good friend hosted a traditional Guy Fawkes bonfire, complete with effigy!

We all brought our own effigy too...that something we wanted to get rid of in our lives...whether it was money matters, weight issues, relationship problems, health problems, etc.

We followed it up with some traditional Bonfire Punch, Jacket Potatoes, Earl Grey Bread & Butter Pudding, brats, sausages & burgers. Let me say, I never had a more cathartic or fun night burning things!

Heaven & Hell Halloween

This past Saturday was my annual Halloween bash. This year's theme was "Heaven & Hell" so I had to plan & decorate accordingly. Paul & I put some of our cake decorating training to use and each took on the task of a cake each.

My Hell cake was originally intended to be a 6 tier tower alternating red velvet & dark chocolate with chocolate truffle frosting in between. And it was. I just didn't reinforce it enough and as I was adding the fondant flames, it started to lean. So I laid it down an replanned the cake, so it ended up having the skull being sucked into the flames of hell rather than atop the tower. I sort of liked it better this way!

Paul took on the Heaven cake, making a white angel cake with traditional white buttercream ribboning, lattace work, lace, flowers, with classic columns. It was classically lovely and could easily have been someone's very traditional wedding cake.

And in true fashion our friends came decked out in their usual creative selves.

Friends, Fall and Fun...Part 2

Well this weekend was another lovely autumn weekend (ok, so it was cold & misty all day Saturday, but it was a good day) with friends out at the Stronghold RenFaire in Oregon, IL. We always have low-key fun performing out there, and this year was no exception.

I played my new character, Mistress Dorothy Smith, and I have to say, I like her alot! She's friendly & fiesty. I created a "gossip rag" that most people really enjoyed and got a chuckle from. I think I would have felt more comfortable in her skin if that skin (the new costume) wasn't suddenly huge on me. I don't think I've lost weight, but it was ridiculous & looked that way, sadly. Oh well, I've rethought her & the costume, so I'm looking forward to that. It was good to have a character that didn't hate my husband's character, too! HAHA!

Saturday night was some awesome ghost hunting. Experiences that I can't possibly express here, but let's just say it wasn't like anything I've ever encountered before. It was GREAT!

Sunday was sunny & fun. Two very dear friends were engaged, and I get to help them in some of the planning. I'm SO happy for them! It was definately the perfect cap on a fun weekend!

Friends, Fall and Fun

This past weekend we visited friend in southwestern Michigan for a lovely autumn weekend away.

Friday the teenagers (they have 2, we have 1) babysat the toddlers (they have 1, we have 2) while the adults had a delicious dinner & movie night. Let me say, tableside guacamole can't be beat! The new version of "FAME" however left alot to be desired. I will say more about this later in another post.

Saturday we went out to Windmill Island in Holland. It was lovely, peaceful, and really did give you a sense of being in the Netherlands. The little boys needed to nap, so Kaitlyn & Alex stayed home while the rest of us wandered downtown Holland.

Sunday all of us headed out to a cider mill/orchards for typical Autumn day of apple picking, hayrides, raspberry picking, and general fun. It was a delightful day!

Some are Silver & the others Gold

This past weekend we had a dear old friend & her family come to visit. We had not seen each other in about 12 years, so it was wonderful to reconnect and have them here. They were WONDERFUL! All 3 of their kids are adorable & charming, she & her husband are as sweet & fun as I remembered...it was just a truly wonderful weekend! I think my son has a new best friend now in their 2 year old. They played SO well together! I only wish the weekend had been longer!

To top it off, I also had 2 other old friends from my MI clubbing days come up for the 4th! Robbie & Brad, Robbie's adorable new boyfriend, Jonathon, and Brad's friend, Aaron (whom I'd also not seen since my wedding) were just hilarious! Add to the mix our buddies, Misty & her whole family & Matt...it was just such an amazing weekend!

We also celebrated Darcy's first birthday! She was a trooper! Happy Birthday Little Princess!!! Love you!

Where I'll be this weekend...

Oh Yeah!

Can't wait!

All of THE best coasters with my bestest friends!

Endless fun!

Those Old Crazy Days

I'm heading down to Chicago in about an hour to spend the day with a dear old friend who now lives in NYC and whom I haven't tseen in years. We used to perform together at the Michigan Renaissance Festival ("back in the day") and had some wonderful crazy times together. Sarah is the sort of person who could seriously intimidate if she really wanted to...she has piercings & tattoos all over and doesn't take crap from anyone. But, in reality, she is one of the sweetest, kindest people you'd ever want as a friend. She used to take the Kidlet to the Detroit Zoo when she was little, after all. But now she lived in NYC, works on the set of "Ugly Betty", and we haven't hung out in years. I worry that I'm going to come across as dull. That in the years of motherhood & wifedom I've become boring (something I've lamented about myself recently). I don't feel I've gotten old (though the Big 4-0 has recently become a reality) but rather, just much, much, much less talkative, fun & generally interesting...especially to my NYC, celebrity elbow-rubbing friend.

Stronghold Photos

Tabitha, Misty, Kaitlyn, Darren & I at Stronghold

Where I've Been

Ok, so I've been a bit AWOL lately but I can barely find time to check email...or waste time on Facebook, so you actually expect me to write a semi-coherent post here? HA! I think I need to get back to doing something like the Thursday 13 just so I can force myself to post with regularity. Since I think I know everyone who actually read this, we should come up with something like that between ourselves. That way we'd all be forced to post at least once a week. Whatcha think??

Ok...so what have I been doing? First fun thing...Brian's Birthday at the Tony Bennett concert at this great outdoor concert venue in the Northshore. It was so fun to see all these people picnicking...with candleabras & flower arrangements! la di da!

This is the birthday boy himself...lovin' the gift we all chipped in to get him, this fabulous carpet bag. (I thoroughly expect him to be like Mary Poppins now.)

Paul & I on the train back from the concert.

The next day we walked around Greendale & went to his old fashioned ice cream parlor. Yum!

The little one is growing like a weed. They had their check-ups...10lbs. now!



And let's not forget the Kidlet started high school last week!

This past Saturday we went to a fabulous farmer's market where I came home with this groovy purple string beans, a pound of portabella mushrooms that I grilled last night, and blueberries.

Oh...and delicious homemade bread!

I was dumb & only photographed the peppers & eggplant...I should have bought some. *sigh*

Darcy spent the day looking like a southern belle.

And Sebastian kept stopping to smell the flowers!

Then we spent the entire day at the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a great (free!) zoo in Chicagoland. We all had a fun time. I think the otters went on vacation though, since we couldn't find them in their area, and the penguins & other "black & white seabirds" had so much condensation on the windows of their areas I couldn't get a single decent photos to post. Alas...here are some other photos of our day though.

This crazy lookin' bird is a called a "paddlebill".

"Never smile at a crocodile..."

This is just one TINY segment of the billions of Hissing Cockroaches exhibit. It was disgusting beyond words. Look at the size of that big one in the center...eeeeeeew!!!!

And this is what you do with a baby hippo...ok, the real ones were swimming & that was cool!

Fish. Relaxing fish.

Gotta love a zoo & park in the city.