Diary of a Mad Fabri-Holic

Inaugu-palooza

(Title shamelessly borrowed from Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.)

(Caveat: if you only want the pix and not the long drawn out story, go here or here- see 1/19, 1/20 and 1/21-22- also- if you want more pix than are in this post, see above!)

Wow.

How tiring the trip to DC for Inauguration Day was can be seen in how long it's taken me to get around to blogging about it.

But what can't be seen from my week's delay was how incredibly amazing it was.  How often in life does something live up to expectations?  This did.  Before we left I was worried about how Annie would handle the trip.  I was worried about how we would manage the logistics.  I was worried about making it through the crowds.  And I was really worried about someone in that crowd stepping on my toe.  And guess what?  All my worries were for naught!  Everything went amazingly well, and my toe didn't even get stepped on, and we shared an amazing moment in history with 1.8 million of our new best friends.

I know I am not a blogger who can do this trip justice, so I'm going to give you the uber brief synopsis.

Sunday 1/18: we left at the crack of dawn- before it, in fact.  Lesson learned: do not connect in Phoenix Skyport if you have to change airlines as this means a) a shuttle bus to change terminals and b) clearing security a second time.  We made it to DC with no other issues.  Here we had the only letdown of our trip: we arrived far too late in the day to make it to the We Are One concert.  And we heard, from my cousin who was there, that the concert was as fabulous as the Inauguration itself.  Ah, well.  We made it to my Great Aunt Millie's house, and were greeted by a dinner of my favorite childhood food: halupki (stuffed cabbages).

Monday 1/19: Aunt Millie's granddaughters (my younger cousins) and their kids joined us for breakfast at her place.  It was crazy with 3 kids under 3, but wonderful as I had not met any of the little ones in person yet. 

This was the first time Annie has been old enough to remember meeting everyone.

After family reunion #1, Annie and I hopped the Metro downtown.  Annie's phenomenal Metro luck started with new friend #1: photographer Tim Shaffer, who works for Reuters showed her his press pass and told her all about parties and events he was photographing.

Downtown, we rode the carousel and explored the National Mall.  My cousin Emily and her dad Jim joined us for DC fun and family reunion #2 (Em now lives in Philly and Jim in Pittsburgh.  Emily grew up in Alexandria, and I went to high school in McLean, so we know our way around.)  It was so much fun to show everything to Annie.

She got to see the Capital, Washington Monument, White House, National Christmas Tree, Old Post Office Building, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Soledad O'Brien live and in person, MSNBC's booth, George Washington himself, and  10,000 port-a-potties. Most exciting of all was just to see DC so full of energy and excitement, so full of people there to celebrate a new moment in history, and also, to cash in on it by selling every Obama item you could imagine (and some I hope you couldn't!)

The people were amazing.  So many people, so happy, so friendly, so kind.  People were from EVERYWHERE.  We met folks from all over the country.  We talked to everyone- it is much easier to do this when you have an adorable 7 year old who is doing a paper for school.  Annie's amazing Metro luck continued when she met a congresswoman's press secretary from Florida who let her check out an official inauguration ticket and program.  A few minutes later, Annie also met our new friend Elaine, who works in film in LA.

Then back to suburban VA, where we spent the night at the home of my folks' best friends, Ed and Cathy.  We went with them and their son Scott and daughter-in-law Anne to Panera, and had simply a blast.  New friends are just the most wonderful souvenir from any trip, and Anne is no exception!

Tuesday 1/20:  the day started at 4:30 am, when we got up!  Yikes!  Our hosts Ed and Cathy got up with us, made us scrambled eggs and english muffins and tea, and drove us to the Metro.  Truly, the best hosts EVER.  Annie and I wore our matching Obama tees, and our brand new Obama hats.  Then, we bundled Annie into her snow pants and many many many layers, and bravely headed out.  Getting downtown was way easier than we feared- the train was not packed, we did not have a wait, and we easily walked from Metro to the Mall.  We got ourselves a great place by a jumbotron on the Mall, right in front of the Natural History Museum. 

Then, we waited for several (cold) hours.

/

In a crowd that happy, and it was that happy, you tend to make friends with your neighbors.  This crowd was no exception.  The folks next to us were wonderful!  They shared handwarmers with Annie.  They had a camp stool, and let her stand on it- saving my back untold agony.  They chatted with her and generally were simply wonderful.  And, we found out, one of our new friends, Tina Gloss, is an actress from LA who was on one of Rich and my favorite TV shows ever!  Wow...

Annie and I were also very near one of the crowd-panning cameras- we think for CNN, and Helen thinks she may truly have seen us on TV- in Australia!!

The experience was electric- to be with that many people all wanting the same thing...  It was the acceptance speech at Mile High times 20 and then some.  There was one very interesting difference, however.  At Mile High, the crowd was euphoric and hopeful.  In DC, we were euphoric and hopeful, but also, more subdued and serious.  After all, the America Obama has inherited has changed an awful lot since last August.  The work ahead is going to be much harder and more challenging now.  It's time for everyone to buckle down and do what it takes to get our country back on track.  Me, I'm putting affordable and accessible health care for all at the top of my list.  (Got that, Santa?  You've got 11 months...)

After the speech, the wonderful speech, Annie and I fought through the crowd and hit the Natural History Museum again.  The Smithsonians did an amazing job of handling the crowds (fabulous clean bathrooms) and they even let tired folks sleep in their halls.  Now, there is something I've never seen before in DC!

After checking out the Hall of Mammals, we tried to get out of DC before the parade crowds were also getting on Metro.  This was the only bad part of the trip- getting to an open Metro station and then safely getting into one...  The crowd was so bad, and pushy, that I had to enlist a soldier's help in making certain Annie did not get pulled away from me.  She didn't, and once we were in Metro, it was an easy ride back to the Vienna station- we even had seats the whole way!

Our Inaugural Day ended at McDonald's- a reward for a very tired and very tough 7 year old!  We were able to view the parade on the scratchy TV bolted to their wall...  While we had planned to return to
Aunt Millie's that night, we were far too tired to safely make the drive.  So, one more night with Ed and Cathy :-)

Weds 1/21: We had breakfast with Ed and Cathy and headed back to Aunt Millie's.  Then- a big treat!  Ellen came all the way from New Jersey to visit with us for the day! 

We took her to our favorite restaurant in the world- a Turkish place in Georgetown owned by a good family friend.  Delicious food!!!

And then, thanks to a heads up from Amy at the Calico Cat, we went to the Obama quilt exhibit at the Historical Society of Washington DC.  It was fabulous, but no photos allowed of the quilts...  Annie's patience for grown up stuff was all done by this point, so we walked to Chinatown, looked into one more museum, stopped to check out a new arrival,

and hit Starb*cks for a pick-me-up.  Then, back to Aunt Millie's- but we forgot all about rush hour- and had lots of bonding and chatting time in the car...  Aunt Millie stuffed us full of 3 kinds of dinner, and Ellen headed back to Newark.  We were so sad to see her go- now I miss her more.  Ellen, come back!

Thurs 1/22: before flying home, we took a trip with Aunt Millie to visit 3 more Great Aunts- Barbara, Pearl and Rosalie.  (My grandma was one of 13 kids...7 still living.)  Family Reunion #3- 3 in 5 days!  I think we did pretty well.  We visited with the Aunties and then returned Millie to her home.  We said our goodbyes, and then Annie and I had a lunch date with our next-door-no-more neighbors who moved to VA just a few weeks ago.  So good to see them, but now, we miss them even more- a theme is appearing here, huh?

And then home.  We flew home through Charlotte this time, and no major issues.  Rich and Henry picked us up at the airport at 10:30pm, and we went home and collapsed into our own beds.

I have no idea how to talk about this trip.  It was amazing.  It was totally worth it.  Hopefully, we were there at the moment when America got back on track.  Hopefully, Annie will remember this for life and grow up to be an engaged citizen participant in her government.  And hopefully, the next historic inauguration will be of our first female president!

The Happiest Halloween Place on Earth (super duper extra photo heavy...)

We're back!  (Okay, we've been back for just over a week but I got a little bit distracted by that whole President Elect Obama thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And we had a simply wonderful time...  We got to meet a friend in person for the first time.

Debi shared her favorite parade viewing spot with us, and it was awesome. Thanks again, Debi! 

We also got some of our best friends ever to join us at The Disneyland Hotel for dinner and fireworks viewing from our balcony.

Can you tell how much the kids love Chris and Elise? We do too- and we miss you guys!

And we spent a fabulous day with our friends Wendy, Charlie and Molly (and baby-to-be).

We ran ourselves ragged doing everything that we love.  The kids met their idols.

We had so much fun at the Haunted Mansion all done up for Halloween.

We even went to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at Disney's California Adventure! 

Truly, we had an awesome time.  I could go on and on, but I won't cause I'm betting it would be dull to anyone but me.  My favorite photos can be found here, and if you're really masochistic, all 4.5 days worth are here...

We packed so much Disney and friend fun into 4.5 days that I didn't really work on either pair of socks that I took with me. I worked on my Pomatomus on the plane on the way up, and my new Jaywalkers on the way back...  I only have a photo of the latter.

That sock is done now and I'm on the heel of #2. I also managed to finish my Dick and Jane baby quilt, just in time to include in the baby-shower-in-a-box for my cousin in CA.

I was worried I might be sad when we got back.  I hate after-vacation and not having anything to look forward to.  I also hate snow.  But Denver is on track to have the latest first snowfall in many many years (hooray for me!)  And my folks will be here in 2 weeks, driving our new minivan from Savannah to here (a long story, but we got an amazing deal from a neighbor and friend of theirs who owns a Toyota delaership in GA...)  So we have the new car to look forward to.  And another vacation, even though  I swore I was staying home for ages, for both sanity and bank account reasons.  However, I was SO fired up on November 4th that I made the rash decision to head to DC for inauguration!!  I'm taking Annie with me- she's missing a week of school, but how often do you get to see history in person?!  We have family to stay with in the area, and so all we had to do was get the plane tickets and rent a car- done and done!  Now, there's something to look forward to!  I have emailed my congressman and senators in the hopes of getting tix for bleacher seats, but I assume I will be lining the parade route with millions of others.  The best part?  A friend from here is also going, and so is some of my family from PA.  And maybe a blog pal, too!  This will be the best party of the century!

But first, surviving the holidays!  Time to stop knitting socks for me and start my many holiday gifts, yikes!  I'll leave you with some fireworks...

Mission: Accomplished!

I have just survived the longest 48 hours of my life.  Well, we were in Cali for 48 hours, but when you add travel time, more like 60 or so hours.  And by the time you get done reading this marathon post, you may feel like you survived those 60 hours with me!

Friday we left our house at 8 AM, Chuppah carefully packed in Princess Girl's carry-on.   (Her roller suitcase is the biggest we have that can be a carry-on.)  We flew to Oakland with no major issues.  I didn't even have to pop a pill to make it through the flight- major victory!  After a shuttle, a ride on BART, and a cab, we arrived at our stunning hotel.  Oh my goodness.  The hotel we had booked in, right down the street from the wedding itself, was undergoing renovation issues- including power and heat outages!  So we were booked into The Claremont Resort and Spa instead.  Yum.  I could get used to this life.  It was slightly further from the actual wedding, but well worth it.  Our schedule was beyond jam packed, but I managed to squeeze in a Lavender Pedicure anyway.  At 8am.  The only time all weekend I had an hour to spare.

But back to the weekend.  Friday, we arrived.  Met up with my folks at the fancy-schmancy hotel.  Checked in, had a late lunch- looking out across the Bay with a perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Friday evening it was time for the rehearsal, followed by the rehearsal dinner.  That's where the "longest 48 hours of my life" bit starts.  The rehearsal was fine.  A little chaotic, but fine.  We all headed off to the rehearsal dinner at the Sequoia Lodge- did I mention the bride and groom are avid outdoors folks?  SO not me.  But the location was just right for them.  Sadly, it was a little off the beaten path, and apparently not on most GPS systems.  The dinner started at 6:30, but the father of the groom got so lost, it was 8:30 before any of the toasting, etc could start. Meanwhile, Train Boy is trying to go to sleep on the floor, and my mom, who is back on East Coast time still, is falling apart.

This was my big moment- the grand Chuppah unveiling.  Many of you asked before how the bride could plan to hang it on a wall if I was keeping it a secret.  The bride, my cousin, had asked me to make a  Chuppah for her big day.  She gave me free reign over it, and the squares-made-by-friends-and-family was a total secret.  And we managed to keep that part a secret until the grand unveil!  It was awesome.

I had to get up and give a little speech at the microphone- not my strong point and I probably talked too fast.  The Chuppah holders pictured here are The Hubby and my dad.  And that's me, looking not so hot, but hey, it was a reallly long day.  The bride and groom got a little teary eyed.

Then there were speeches and slideshows and toasts, including the one that made everyone cry- digital video of my 92 year old grandma, who isn't well enough to travel, sending a fabulous toast to the couple.  As soon as it was polite, we bolted to get the kids to bed.  I was told that after we left, the Chuppah was hung up and everyone was admiring it, telling the stories of their squares, etc.  Nifty!

The next morning I squeezed in my 8am pedicure, and then, in a fabulous treat, we entertained some guests at our hotel.  Many years ago, before Train Boy was born, we had some friends in CO named Angela and Tony.  They had a great daughter, Chloe, one year younger than PG.  There were transplants from Berkeley, and as it turned out, Berkeley is their home.  They moved back when TB was 7 days old (but not before she took these amazing photos for us)- and we hadn't seen them in person since.  But we managed to have breakfast together on Saturday!  And it was great.  Esp as we managed to NOT destroy Angela's 2 day old camera.  But we came close.  (Cathi, I delivered your hug and greetings...)

We then took the kids to Chinatown for lunch and exploring- PG has recently studied Asia in first grade, and TB is learning about Chinese New Year in preschool.  We stumbled upon a street festival and saw Lion acrobats and Dragon dancers.  Then we had delicious Dim Sum, a first for half the group (not me.)  And we bought lots of silly souvenirs to share with both schools.  We raced back to our hotel to catch a nap.  It didn't happen, and TB was a total wreck when it came time for the wedding.  He abdicated his role as Flower Child.  But he behaved during the ceremony, so, all well in the end.  PG was a gorgeous Flower Child.  And- this was the big moment for The Chuppah.  I took a slew of photos for y'all.

Here's the Chuppah being brought down the aisle by the Chuppah Holders:

Here it is waiting for the bride and groom:

And here it is sheltering the happy couple:

I don't know if you can really tell from these, but I got the color 100% right.  The quilt looked like it was made for the room, and of course, it was- but it felt great to get it so spot on!  The size was great, the ties worked and the thing didn't fly off the poles and land on the bride.  All was well!  PHEW.

The wedding was wonderful.  Truly wonderful.  Everyone was joyous.  The food was fantastic. The live music, provided by my amazing aunt and uncle- rocked.  The speeches were great.  The dancing was a blast.  The drinks were strong.  Ask me how I know...  PG bonded with a not-exactly-cousin she's never met before.  And chased many men around the room.  We are in so much trouble someday.  TB danced up a storm, and got to try on the groundhog costume.  What, you've never been to a wedding with a man in a groundhog costume? 

We stumbled back to our hotel after the cake- Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake.  YUM.  Everyone collapsed.  Until 2:45 am, when the hotel had a very loud, very annoying fire alarm.  Ugh.  By Sunday morning, we all felt like death. Which I'm sure had nothing to do with those drinks.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Sunday morning had a brunch, back at the wedding site.  The Chuppah was again hung up for viewing.

And the father of the bride took my photo with it.  So, you can all see me, after 2 days with no sleep and crazy humidity hair.

Not to toot my own horn, but I got a lot of great compliments this weekend.  It made all the stress about getting it done on time worthwhile.  And I kept telling folks that I was just the assembly-person of this project- the squares were made by 36 other folks,  Well, more- many squares represented a whole family unit...

The it was back to the airport to race home.  Again, I made it with no pill.  The landing was a little icky, but it was totally made-up-for when, as we were exiting the plane, the pilots came out, saw my cute kids, and let them go sit in the cockpit and pretend to fly the plane!  The pilot even told me to get out my camera and go take photos- I wasn't going to ask as it seemed like such a treat already!  Total highlight of the trip for TB.

All in all, a wonderful weekend.  Even if it will take me 6 months to catch up on sleep.  I ditched work today. I am doing some from home- love that I can dial in- and I am also just crashing. The kids slept 3 hours later than normal.  They're ditching school.  We're all going to rest, and face the real world tomorrow.

Plus, I have 400+ photos from this weekend to go through.  If you think this post is photo heavy, just imagine how much worse it COULD be...

A Monumental Weekend

What does it take to keep me away from all of you lovelies for over a week?  The big move to the new building at work (I get to see my office this morning for the first time, but, I've been forewarned my desk, etc., have yet to arrive.  That should make life interesting.)  The first 2 weeks of 1st grade for Princess Girl have kept us hopping, what with back to school night and all sorts of other fun stuff.  And then, there was the impulsive family vacation we took over Labor Day Weekend...

Yup, we hopped in the car Friday afternoon, after I worked until midnight Thurs and then all morning Friday to make sure I'd be able to get away...  We spent Friday night in Cheyenne, did a little bit of shopping in the morning, and then made a beeline for South Dakota, where none of us had been before.  The Hubby and I decided it was high time ours kids had a road trip.  (With all our family on the East Coast, and that being a 2-3 day drive each way, and vacation time being limited, we always fly...)  And we'd never seen Mt Rushmore.  Well, now we have! 

Someone else saw the mountain, too.

The Alligator Scarf was my traveling buddy.  He enjoyed Mt Rushmore, the 1880 Train,

and also over 6 hours each way in the car. 

He'd be done, but I didn't spend as much time knitting as I could have...  I did spend some time with that cute family of mine...

And now for the PSA portion of this here blog: should you ever for any reason find yourself in Wheatland, Wyoming, do not, for any reason, stop in the Burger King.  And if you do, well, don't touch anything.  I have never ever in my life been in a fast food restaurant so filthy.  And I'd like to remind you all- I grew up and traveled in some pretty interesting places.  But this here Burger King was so foul, it tops anywhere I've been in the 3rd world.

Aside from that horrid experience, the trip was fabulous.  We played mini golf at what might have been the most difficult course, ever.  We had ice cream and pie.  I love pie.  We saw wildlife, both free and arranged for our viewing pleasure.  And we even had dinner with some singing cowboys.  I haven't finished editing the photos yet, but they'll be on Flickr when I am done.  And now, off to work to imagine what my desk may eventually look like.  Fun!

The Good, The Bad, and the Very Ugly

The Good:
On Jan 8, 2008, The Hubby and I fly to London for 6 nights of child free bliss in my favorite city on this earth.  My folks fly into Denver on Jan 7, 2008 to stay with the kids!  We found a deal that was too good to be true, but, isn't.  We booked through a reputable website, are flying a real airline, and have already checked the hotel out online...  Thank you, Travel Zoo!

The Bad:
My quilt sold at auction for the suggested retail value.  The suggested retail value was exactly one half of what I would have told them, had they asked me before-hand...  They asked me today, the day after the event, for tax purposes.  It is my professional experience that once an item at a silent auction reaches its actual stated value, bidding stops.  People like to feel they are getting a bargain, at least, at a silent auction.  Live auctions are different.  Sigh.  On the bright side, my quilt went to a good home- a former co-worker who is now the Executive Director of yet another local non-profit bought it to display in her apparently bare office...  So at least I know it will be loved.  (To prevent a photo-less post, here's the back of the quilt in that photo I promised to take...)

 

The Very Ugly:
For the 2nd time in 9 months, our mailbox was vandalized.  We have a VERY funky mailbox (ours was custom designed in purple and green), and it appears that by installing this one-of-a-kind art piece, we made a tacit agreement with the spoiled neighborhood brats that they could destroy it one piece at a time.  Last Sept., they ripped off the right front leg, and stole it as well, so we couldn't even repair it.  This Tuesday they attempted to rip off the left front leg, and when it wouldn't come off, they bent the entire thing upwards to a nearly 90 degree angle and also bent the mailbox door out of shape, leaving us with sopping wet mail thanks to a rainstorm.  We have some other neighbors with a cool tree-stump carving of a gnome, and they have as of late had vandalism issues as well.  While police reports have been filed in all cases, it is apparently NOT a tax payer priority to have a 24/7 stakeout of my block to catch what everyone assumes are just bratty kids.  Grumble.  The Hubby is seriously thinking of installing a security camera.  We have a strong suspicion that it is a particular kid who lives up the block, but no proof.

Back from Pittsburgh... without a pithy title.

This past weekend, the whole family flew to Pittsburgh to visit my grandma, my only remaining grandparent, and my kids' only great grandparent.  It was a mini-family reunion as we stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, my cousin drove in from MI, and my folks drove in from SC.  Phew!  That's a lot of family in one house...  Thank goodness my aunt and uncle have a huge house. 

Grandma lived out here in CO until 12/05, when she had to move from a retirement apartment to an assisted living facility, and it was deemed best to have her closer to more family.  We hadn't seen her since then, and for me, it was painful to see how much difference 18 months has made.  But I am very grateful for the time we were able to spend with her this weekend.

I took Lizard Ridge with me.  Fortunately, when the flight attendant and woman on my right hand side managed to spill *an entire can of ginger ale* into my lap/onto my bum, they missed the Noro completely.  My pants?  Not so lucky.  An apology from the flight attendant?  None to be heard.  Aside from its brush with near-wetness, Lizard Ridge did well on the trip with 2 squares completed, and a 3rd finished the morning after we got home.  And, one square got to take an extra special field trip:

Ikea, baby!  Pittsburgh has a cute, small Ikea, and of course, I had to go.  The Hubby and I took a Swedish meatball related field trip on our own while my family took the kids to the Children's Museum, which we hear was a blast.  but better than Ikea?  Not possible.

Meanwhile, I did finish the 1st QoV top before I left last week.

I worked the leftover pieced blocks into a nice star layout that I'm going to piece and send to Deb S for a border- she has more of the original blue fabric at her place.  Then, 2 tops for nearly the price of one!  Now, I just need to finish the back of the finished top, and send it to the next stop: quilting!

If I ever have time to sew again...

 

Hi, honeys, I'm home!

Did you miss me?

Wait, maybe I don't want to know the answer to that...  I'm going to assume you all did.  Even the lurkers (mwah, big kisses to all lurkers!)

We had a lovely vacation.  Thanks to some lovely parents (mine), we had a free hotel room (just barely off the Strip) by redeeming some of their Marriott Rewards points.  In fact, we had a 2-room suite!  A sweet suite, if you'll forgive me.

Because we had no hotel bill to pay, I felt fine indulging in my favorite hotel pastime.

Not that. Geez, you guys, get your minds out of the gutter. No, my favorite hotel indulgence would have to be-- ROOM SERVICE!

I especially love it when it comes with teeny tiny things.  Screw the environment, I want individual ketchups and Tabascos...  And jams and even honeys.  All in teeny tiny glass containers.

We had a lovely time.  We drove, and on the way down hit a big huge pipe in the road somewhere in Utah.  We found a mechanic who was able to confirm we did NOT do any damage, so we kept on.  On the way back, in a road work zone, a big ole rock hit the windshield and left a quarter sized star.  Again, in Utah. I no longer like Utah.  Fortunately, our insurance covered the repair with no fee, so that's now all better.

We're not big gamblers.  So why go to Vegas?  Well, we are big eaters.  (It shows, I know).  And big shoppers.  This trip, we left the Strip and explored.  We were rewarded by two of our best restaurant finds, ever.  Really.  Almost good enough to persuade us not to come home.  Except, we did sort of miss those kiddos...  Find #1: All you can eat Sushi place.  In the desert.  In a ratty strip mall far from the main drag.  Sound like a bad idea?  It wasn't.  For $20 pp, we had any and every kind of sushi, made fresh to order, plus anything else from the menu.  And it was goooood.  And, they had the best slogan I have EVER seen on a sushi joint.  You made need to click to read it- this photo is kind of small.

Find #2 was directly due to my desire to go fabric and yarn shopping. More on that later. (I'm such a tease.) M&M soul food cafe. Oh My God. It was in a nasssssssty little shopping center. I think the yellow puddle I stepped over on my way in was not water, if you get my drift. The booths were falling apart and our table was more uneven than the Senate majority. But, the food. The food, the food, the food. If I didn't think I would quickly have a heart attack and die, I would eat there every day for the rest of my life. Here you can see: smothered fried chicken, yams, mac n cheese, cornbread stuffing, corn bread, and sweet tea. You may gain three pounds reading this post.

What else did we do? The first night, we enjoyed a buffet dinner in the Middle East.  Have to do a casino buffet at least once while there, right?  We did some outlet shopping and I got me an FCUK T shirt...  We ate dinner at an old favorite that has left Denver behind, wah.  We saw a "traditional Las Vegas variety show"- aka showgirls, comedy and stunts.  Did I mention that room service?  And the sushi and soul food?  We also ate dinner right on the Strip, with a great view of the Bellagio fountains, at Mon Ami Gabi, a fake french cafe in the Paris casino complex.

We breakfasted in Rome

and took in a show- an amazing Cirque Du Soleil show- in old Hollywood.

Don't we clean up nice?  I wore my new hot dress, and my hot "I'm not a mommy tonight" shoes.  And my feet hurt later, but it was sooooooo worth it.

We even visited Nerd Heaven for The Hubby.

We were entertained by The King

or a reasonable version thereof, and then, we finished off the trip with some cheap prime rib and a trip downtown.

Friday we drove home, encountered that rock, and finally made it back in almost one piece.  Train Boy rewarded us by getting up 4 times in the night, and today, Princess Girl treated us to, so far, two rounds of vomiting.  Right now, I'm supposed to be at a friend's wedding reception.  We made it to the ceremony, but then had to come home for the sick girl.  Even with all this fun, it's still great to see them again.  Train Boy especially has been very clingy all day, and it's nice to know he loves his mama.  Cross fingers that the puke is all done.  We have big family plans tomorrow.

Remember that tease about fabric and yarn shopping? Since this post is more like the beginning of a book than a reasonable blog post, I'll save that for tomorrow.  Besides, I haven't photographed my loot yet, and I know you want to see it.  So, come back soon, ya hear?

It's "plane" to see...

... that at this time tomorrow I'll be on vacation!  We're flying, ugh, which means lots of drugs for yours truly.  I have a fear of flying that you wouldn't believe, which is truly a bit ludicrous for a foreign service brat like me!!!  We're off to visit my folks in lovely Okatie, SC- that's shouting distance from Hilton Head and Savannah, in case you are curious.  We'll be spending a week in the luxurious Oldfield community.  My favorite is the country club, where they just keep bringing me cosmos.  And shopping Savannah, and eating until I burst.  But before I go, I wanted to share a few things with you all.

First, shameless mommy moment.  Aren't they cute?  Here's Train Boy's formal 2nd birthday pix.  Yes, that is a big bruise in the center of his forehead, but we figured, hey, that's what he really looks like!

Second.  I have decided to enter my first ever challenge.  Check it out here.  I have 3 ideas so far.  I need opinions.  #1) Bra-vo (arts themed).  #2) Bra-zilla (a monster of a bra!).  #3) Bra-colli (I'm thinking green and leafy, perhaps with cheese sauce, too).  I'm leaning towards Bra-zilla.  I have never entered a challenge before, but an embellished bra is too good to pass up, plus the entry fee goes to charity.  Hmm, I wonder if that means I can deduct all the supplies?  LOL!

I had another exciting thrift store excursion- the Junior League runs a second hand shop nearby, and they sometimes have real treasures.  Turns out they are moving at the end of the month, so right now, the deals are amazing!  Check out the Thrift Store Scores album on the sidebar if interested...

My folks have- gasp- dial up- so I may be absent through the 16th.  I'm going to email myself a photo for Stash Sunday in the hopes I will be able to get it loaded...  If not, see you in a week or so.  Mwah (that's a big ole kiss to all you friends!)