ABBA at the Renaissance Faire....

I only wish I has some pictures to post along with this, but I only took a few on my own camera and haven't moved them to the computer yet, but here is the play by play, or a close proximity of a play by play.....

For those of you who aren't aware, my best friend from high school, Angie (and yes, she goes by Angelia but she will always be Angie to me) lives in San Jose. I was completely unaware of this until about 6 months ago when we found each other on Facebook (we had not been in touch in probably 20 years). She is married to a wonderful man, Seamus, and they both are very involved in the Northern California Renaissance Faire. They typically work at the faire, but this year they opted out of working as Angie is 7 months pregnant. They were nice enough to invite me to join them at the faire this past weekend and to spend the night at their house.

I arrive at Angie and Seamus's house Friday and they welcome me with open arms, which I promptly throw all of my stuff into and give Angie a big hug. Friday night we just hung around, did fun domestic stuff like grocery shopping and having dinner, and then we headed down to the basement, which functions as Angie's walk in closet and I am SOOO very jealous of, to pour me into a bodice and skirts in preparation of going to the faire in costume. After much hemming and hawing, we locate one that will work and Seamus cinches me in. We all agree with the look, I learn how to breathe (or not), sit, walk, and function while wearing a corset/bodice, and then we take it off and put on jammies to head to bed as we need to get a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day.

Saturday, we get up and dressed, get cinched and tucked and what not, we gather together all of the accouterments, grab the flasks (because believe me, you can't function out there without a little Parrot Bay in your system) and head off....all the way to Starbucks. The three of us are quite the vision as we stand in line for our mocha and carmelmachiotto, and whatnots. A few people ask, "Are you off to the Renaissance Fair?" and with humor in her voice and a glint in her eye Angie pipes up and says "What? We dress like this everyday!"

Finally, we are on the road. We arrive at the grounds, pile out of car, and finish putting on the final touches to our wardrobes. I get my final cinching up, belt, fan, flask, and flowers for the hair. Seamus puts on his belts, pistols, sword, flask, and god only knows what else he had on. Angie, puts on her wings (she makes beautiful fairy wings, check out her work at On Gossamer Wings).

Finally we are at faire, and this is where things become a complete whirlwind for me due to the sensory overload. But here are a few things that I recall that I liked and didn't like:

Things I Liked:

• Everybody was incredibly nice and welcomed me
• Black-Cherry hard cider
• I felt, almost, like I fit in there
• Meeting new friends
• Spending time with great friends
• Corsets/Bodices...These things are great. I never thought I would say that, but, This was the first time in my memory where I spent all day on my feet and my back wasn't killing me by the end of the day. The thing not only get the girls high and mighty, but it was wonderful support for my back.
• Steak sandwiches
• Dancing with some complete stranger, to no music besides our laughter, in the middle of the muddy path (me = sober, him = not so much)
• The cute boy that we never saw again....

Things I Didn't Like:

• It rained, not just a little spitting and sprinkling, but a complete downpour, luckily we took shelter in one of the clothing booths.
• Dealing with Port-a-potties in two skirts, a long chemise, and lots of stuff around my waste
• Mud, but only because I was slipping and I was worried about Angie slipping and I understand that the mud is better than the dust
• Not getting to see any of the shows. Darn it, I guess this means I'm gonna have to go back!!

At the end of the day, we were kicked out because we did not have passes to stay for the after-hours, and it is my understanding that the after-hours activities are when the real raunchiness begins. We went to a local restaurant for a bite to eat before we hit the road. Driving back, I dozed in the backseat and could only hear the faint murmurings of Angie and Seamus as they drove home.

That night I slept like a baby, basking in the glow of a wonderful adventure. While I've marked one more thing off my list of things to do before I die, I've added one more thing to my list of things I want to do again.

Angie and Seamus and all of your friends at the Faire, Thank you!!