Fairy Thoughts

This past weekend I went to Scarborough Faire with my wonderfully talented friend Angie. She makes amazing fairy wings. (If you want to acquire your own pair check out her website On Gossamer Wings.) Anyway, she allowed me to borrow a pair of her wings while attending the faire:

She is in the green and I'm in the monarch wings. More than anything, she amazes me as to how easily she can slip into the character of a fairy. People are always wanting to take pictures and the children are so amazed by her and she is more than willing to always stop and talk to them. On one such occasion, a father came forward with his daughter and asked, "Do you mind, this is a hands on experience." It was quickly realized that his daughter was blind. I willingly allowed her to feel my velvet bodice and blouse, my face, hair, etc. she then moved on to Angie. While I was able to speak some to this young girl, Angie immediately slipped into character and described everything that she was wearing and all the things around her. She then asked the girl what she was on this day (the girl was wearing a warrior ensemble). The conversation carried on for going on 10+ minutes and I was truly in awe.

I later wondered how you would describe colors to a blind person to help them understand. Chocolate brown, I can understand because when you taste chocolate you can imagine what it looks and feels like. There are other colors that can be "tasted" like reds (strawberry, pepper, fiery, etc.), yellow (tart lemon), green (smell of grass, lime, granny smith apple, etc.), orange (well, orange....). What other colors can be described by taste or smell.....



 

Birthday Update

So, my birthday was this past weekend. We won't go into my age as I don't feel that old, at least not today. I opted to celebrate in style...I did this by taking Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off work. Here is how I spent my time:

Friday:

• I slept in, well as late as Devil Dog would allow.
• After I got up and had some icecream for breakfast, I shooed DD out into the yard and went up to my studio and finished work on a growth chart quilt for my friend Angie's boychild. (I have pictures of this but have not gotten them off of the camera, so that will be posted at a later date.)
• I then got myself around and packed up to go visit Angie and her family.
• On my drive over to Angie's, I stopped at a liquor store to purchase a gift for her husband. Sadly, the town in which I live is dry, so I needed to figure out where to stop on my way. Thank goodness I can count on Sara for her quick research as she was able to direct me to which exit to take. However, the liquor store that I stopped in looked as if they were going out of business as their shelves were bare. I found this to be odd since it was Friday afternoon and I would think they would be fully stocked in preparation for the weekend (they did say the truck was on its way, but not in time for when I was there). I grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan and went on my way.
• I had to return to my house as I forgot to pack my skydiving DVD, which was one of the primary things that I was supposed to bring with me.
• I eventually made it to Angie's house where we spent the afternoon/evening hanging out and visiting.

Saturday:

• We all got up and headed out to Scarborough Faire. Angie and Seamus, her husband, have season passes and do the full dress. Since they are full dress people, I too opted for the full dress for this visit. Here is a picture of me in costume. Okay, so not a full picture of me, but you get the idea:

 

• Great fun is always had when I'm out at a fair with these folks. Primarily we do lots of walking and people watching and just generally nothing, but it was great because we were out doors and enjoyed the fresh air.
• Once we were finished at the fair, we stopped at her folks' house for dinner and then headed back to their home where I spent the night.

Sunday:

• On this morning, we got up and hung out. Angie and I had some more really great conversation and visiting time.
• Around noonish I headed out to my sister's to meet up with the family to celebrate my birthday.
• While at my sister's we watched my skydiving video (good thing I went back for it) and looked at my niece's prom pictures (can't believe she is a Senior and graduating).
• Because I'm such a high maintenance person I required much work on my family's part for the meal.... Marti had to call Mama's Pizza and place the order and Chief had to drive there to pick it up.
• We also had cake and since it was my birthday unwrapping presents.
• Mid to late afternoon I headed down to my parents' house to spend the night down there. We sat out on their back patio for a while just enjoying the breeze and watching hummingbirds and butterflies. It is always so relaxing and enjoyable to just sit outside when over at Mom and Dad's. We also scanned through my London and Rome travel books and talked about things to do on my trip.

Monday:

• We, Mom, Dad, and I, slowly got ourselves around. We had a leisurely breakfast, after they sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and completed our crossword puzzles (oh yeah, I did the New York Times one almost completely on my own).
• We then headed down to Grandbury, TX to wander around the square for a bit and have a bite of lunch.
• I then headed back to my own home.
• Sara came over to celebrate my actual birthday dinner with me. She brought Double Dave's and bubbly for dinner. We topped it off with cupcakes that my dog walker made and left for me in the fridge.
• Sara and I also expanded our minds by watching two weeks worth of Biggest Loser.

Tuesday:

• To top off my 5 days of visiting, I decided to pamper myself.
• I started my day with cake for breakfast, I mean if I have it I might as well partake of it, right?
• I then went for an hour and a half massage.
• After the massage, I did a little shopping for things that I didn't really need, but I had a coupon and a gift certificate so heck why not go for it.
• I then went and got a new cut and color. I went for a really short style this time as I want to have very easy hair while on my trip. I don't have a picture, but will post one as soon as I do.
• I finished the vacation off with some mind numbing television watching and playing with DD.

All in all, I had a really great birthday weekend.

Valhalla Renaissance Faire - My Weekend Part III

Sunday morning I wake up to a BEAUTIFUL day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the temperature is cool but not biting as it was on Saturday. It is a wonderful day for Faire and for a Christening/Baby Blessing. 

I got up and started my morning ritual of getting ready... shower, hair, makeup dressing. This day I wore a front lacing bodice, so I was able to dress myself even though I did have to have Seamus tighten me up later. On Saturday, when it was clouding and cold I made certain to slather on sun-screen to protect my fair skin from the Faire sun. Sunday when the sun was out in all her glory, I completely forgot to protect myself. Well, that isn't completely true. I did put on a little sun-screen on my chest on one shoulder, completely forgetting to get the other shoulder, arms, ears, nose, etc...

Since we were leaving to drive back to San Jose straight from Faire, I pulled out some comfy driving clothes to change into and put them into a separate bag and started packing up the car. I went to Angie and Seamus's room to see what I could do to help them out (remember, it takes a village...). I got Aidan dressed and kept him entertained while Angie finished getting dressed and Seamus finished up loading the car. 

We headed off to the Faire as we needed to be there early so that we (and when I say "we" I mean Angie and Seamus and the baby) could get to the Fellowship Garden and get the preparations for the Baby Blessing/Christening ceremony finalized. At 11:00 we all gathered in the garden with many of their wonderful Faire friends. They honored me by making me Aidan's Godmother (and not just because I stepped in as pack-horse/third pair of hands but because they want me to be a permanent part of his life AND he always smiles when he sees me). The Faire community was so wonderful in being there and participating in this blessed family event and Aidan was joyously welcomed into the community. 

After the ceremony, we grabbed a bite to eat and Angie and I stayed in the garden so that Aidan could get in a nice nap and Seamus could go off and "play" with his Black Flag compadres. We visited with Angie's Faire friends. (As an aside, Angie and Seamus are preparing to move to Texas on June 16th, so this was going to be one of the last times they would see many of these friends for a very long time.)

At about 2:30ish, we made our final walk through the Faire. Angie picked up some fun stripey socks, which are a staple of her home and faire wardrobe. Seamus picked up a new belt. I acquired some home-made soaps and a little black-sheep finger puppet for Aidan. They said their final good-byes and headed to the car. We did a parking lot change of attire and headed out. 

All in all it was a very fun and interesting weekend. Even though the weather was bad on Saturday and I had issues with my freaky room from HELL, it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with dear friends and to play with my most recent Godchild. I have a slightly sun-burned shoulder (only one) but some really great memories. 

Thanks Angie, Seamus, and Aidan for introducing me to the world of Faire and for letting me be a special part of Aidan's life. 

Valhalla Renaissance Faire - My Weekend Part II

I wake up Saturday morning and it is all rainy and cold and not very Faire-like weather, but we are still going to do this...

I get my shower taken and because I like to have noise in my room as I'm getting ready, so I turn on my television. You will never guess, but yes, I am coming to realize that I have the room from HELL!! I have only ONE station on my television. Luckily, it is Saturday morning cartoons... not necessarily good cartoons.... but cartoons none the less. I go over the Angie and Seamus's room to help Angie with some of her stuff and then Seamus comes over to my room to lace me into my bodice. While there, he acknowledges that I have bad cartoons on and asks why. I tell him that I only have one station and then ask if they have more... I just assumed that the hotel only got one station.... turns out, I was the only lucky one to get this treatment!! 

So, we get ourselves altogether and head out. I get in the car to drive and realize almost immediately that there is no way that I can drive. I'm in this bodice that limits my movement and hampers my driving ability so before I even start the car Seamus and I do a quick switch-a-roo and he drives. We get to the faire, pile out of the car and start putting all the final touches of our costumes on. Seamus goes to get the wine-barrel wagon out of the truck and finds out that sadly one of the wheels has broken on the trip up, so we had to make alternative plans for carrying Aidan (who, by the way, is about 6 - 7 months old). As I said earlier, it is rainy and cold and very Scottish Moors weather. 

The crowd at the Faire was light as I'm sure the weather kept people away, although the folks that were there were in costume, for the most part and Angie and Seamus knew many of them. Everybody was very happy to see them and the baby. We watched Seamus participate in a sword fight with his friends at Brotherhood of the Black Flag. We joined the Valhalla Fellowship in preparation for Aidan's Christening that was occurring on Sunday. After a good couple of circuits around the grounds we decided that it was best to head back to the hotel and get warm and dry. Since it had been a stressful day the three of use decided that we would just stay in, order pizza, and watch television in Angie and Seamus's room....mostly because they had more than one channel. Oh and we polished off what was left in the flasks since rum isn't supposed to sit in the flasks over night. 

We headed to bed early as we were all pretty tired. I went back to my room (no raccoon this time), after washing my face and brushing my teeth I crawled into bed to read a little. Then I heard a popping/pinging sound. I went back into the bathroom to investigate and realized that the porcelain was coming off of my sink and when it breaks away from the sink, it pops.... who knew? I determined that there was nothing that I could do about this and went back to bed. I soon was unable to hold my eyes open any longer and I turned off my light and fell asleep. 

1:30 in the morning I'm awoken by a huge bang as if something is coming through my ceiling and then I hear shouting and screaming and crashing and I realize that the people in the room above me (newlyweds, by the way) are having a knock down screaming fight. So, I roll over and call the front desk and report this. This goes on for about 2 hours off and on and then either I learned to completely tune them out or they left.... I'm not certain what happened but I finally go back to sleep. 

Valhalla Renaissance Faire - My Weekend Part I

This past weekend I went to the Valhalla Renaissance Faire in Lake Tahoe with my friends Angie and Seamus and their son Aidan. Hopefully, somebody got a picture of me in my costume and I will post it, however, I don't have one at this point, but I do want to go ahead and post to let everybody know about the adventure. 

Angie, Aidan, and I head out on Friday to drive up to South Lake Tahoe. Seamus drove up later with some of his friends who were bringing the baby's wagon that Seamus fashioned out of a small wine barrel. The drive was pretty good. We stopped for dinner at a Carl's Jr. in Folsom, after quoting Johnny Cash song lyrics ("I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die..."). I didn't recall ever eating in a Carl's Jr. and I have to say that it was quite tasty. After a bite, bathroom breaks, and diaper changing, we pile back in the car and push on through to the hotel. We stayed at the Royal Valhalla on the Lake. The hotel met all of the qualifications that a hotel should have... it was clean, safe, and convenient. The best part, my room had a view of the lake... at lake level. 

Angie and I checked in and asked for adjoining rooms because we were going to help each other get ready in the morning... What? With costumes and getting hair and baby and all the accoutrement... it takes a whole village to get ready for these Faires!! Anyway, they couldn't put us in adjoining rooms without putting Angie, Seamus, and Aidan into a smoking room. However, they did have a room two doors down from their room for me, but it is a smoking room. Luckily, it didn't smell at all like a smoking room... and it had the great view. Well, Angie and I get into our rooms and unload the car. I hang out in her room for a bit to help her get settled with Aidan. 

About 10 PM we decide it is bed time and I leave to go down to my own room. I leave her room and I see what I think at first is some body's dog right outside my room. I take a step towards it and realize that no it isn't a dog... it is a raccoon!! I big, adolescent raccoon!! I totally freak out and bang on Angie's door. She let me back in and we called the front desk because I didn't want to walk towards it to get into my room because I could just see that thing attack me like the one in Elf that attacked Will Ferrell.... So, the front desk guy comes and tries to scare the beast off, oh and remove the trash can that the animal was digging in for dinner. I wait a moment and then head back out. Luckily, while the raccoon was no longer standing directly outside my door, it was still around but I made it in safe and sound. 

Here is what I found (and didn't find) in my room: 1. Half eaten can of cocktail peanuts and an open can of International House of Coffee - Vanilla 2. No trash can 3. A box fan 3. No washrags or hand towels, although I do have bath towels and all the other stuff that is supposed to be in the room. So, I'm like fine. I wash my face and crawl into bed and realize that it is REALLY dark and I decide to leave the bathroom light on just so I can find my way around. I go to sleep.....

Pondering and Planning and Whatnot

I've had a lot on my mind lately because I'm making plans for a big change. I know, I know... being very vague here....

I still have some final arrangements to make, and need The Queen back in around to finalize, but those who know already are pretty happy that I'm making this change. Well, not all of them, actually 50% and happy and 50% aren't so happy. 

In the meantime, I'm making plans to go to a Renaissance Faire next weekend up in South Lake Tahoe with my friend Angie and her husband and son. I've actually broken down and purchased a costume all of my own. I went for a slightly less expensive one and I'm now sorta wishing that I would have invested in the more expensive bodice/corset thing, but for my first costume, it'll do. It is amazing how addictive this whole costuming thing can get. 

I also found out that one of my friends back in San Antonio has also gotten involved in Renaissance Faires so this weekend when I saw her we talked about costumes and characters and how really fun it is to just let go and be somebody else for a period. 

Anyway, I'll make sure that I get some pictures of me being a fun Pirate Wench Person and get them out here for you all. 

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!!