Tuesday's Weekend Wrap Up

Hi Everybody! I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. I came back from my long weekend to a storm of craziness that is to be expected less than three weeks out from my largest event.

For those who don't know about the "Regatta Gala" (as my friend Heather likes to call it), I plan a $25,000 per table Awards Dinner for the organization I work for. I manage all phases of the event, from inception to awardee selection to menu to production. It's a huge job, and a stressful one, but the payoff is it's a tremendous fundraiser for our organization, and it is a truly lovely event. But the craziness has set in. So I'll probably be a bit more sporadic in my reading and posting than usual -- at least until September 25, when the event is held. So, my apologies up front.

Anyway, Saturday I had my general overhaul. Got another 2 inches cut off my hair, which I'm now totally on the fence about. I've been getting compliments, but for the most part, I'm not loving the new cut. I think it's too short. But, we'll see how it grows out. My hair tends to do a general freak out when it first gets cut and I'm still figuring out how the heck to style it. The good thing is that my hair grows pretty quickly (except my bangs, which took forever to grow out). So, if I end up not liking it, I think by the time I go back to see her, it'll be about the length I want it, and she'll just need to trim it.

I'm also, I'm sure many who know me personally would tell you, very vain about my hands. Not that I have particularly good looking hands, in fact, I have lots of scars on them because I'm a klutz. But I love to have my nails done. So, I've had silk-wrapped nails for, oh, I don't know, probably two years now. They work great for me because my nails are very, very thin and tear quite easily, and the silk is just a very thin, but very strong layer over top. So my nails are strong, and the silk helps hold polish really well, so my nails are always "done." I'm a fan of the French manicure because it looks professional and is always appropriate. I don't actually keep my nails that long, it's more that I like them to look "done. Anyway, this is a long way of saying that I got a new "set" of nails, and I got a pedicure.

So by Saturday night, I was "overhauled" and felt OK about the results.

Sunday, I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival with my sister's family. It was Sara's birthday on Saturday, so I did indeed treat them to IHOP, and then off we went to the Renn Fest. We had absolutely gorgeous weather. The Festival is set up in the beautiful little grove in Maryland. There is, what I'd call a permanent set there. The store fronts are all permanent and house artisans of all types from woodworkers to printmakers to jewelry. There is a large cast, all in character, who interact with festival goers, there are jousts and games to be played, and a tremendous amount of food to be eaten. I made my niece, Abby, let me buy both of us garlands for our hair. I have to say, Abby looked gorgeous in hers (see picture). Plus, being a goofy family, we had a terrific time wandering around, talking to people, eating all sorts of food, and browsing in the shops. All of the sellers were in costume, and occassionally we'd get someone in "wench" garb who would have a rogue nipple showing. It got to be kind of hilarious. Anyway, we stayed to see the Royal Court and to see the joust. Then we went and got Croissant Sundaes, which is exactly what it sounds like. Except that they are as big as your face. Abby and I each got one, and we seriously could have just shared the one. It was ridiculous, and yet just a ton of fun, and a relatively inexpensive outing.

Monday I hung out by the swimming pool for a couple of hours, which was nice. I'm working my way through J.D. Robb's "In Death" series for about the fourth time. I'm both listening to the series on audiobook, and then reading too. So, I'm currently listening to Naked In Death (Book 1), and reading Conspiracy In Death (Book 8), which I know would make some people crazy (Julie), but since I know the series inside and out, I can really pick it up wherever. Anyway, other than that, I watched a couple of movies (see below), and I wrote a LONG overdue review of Lisa Kleypas's October release, Seduce Me At Sunrise for RNTV.

Oh! Today I was at the Post Office mailing out two packages, one to Katiebabs, who very sweetly loaned me one of her copies of King of Sword and Sky by CL Wilson, and to LeeAnn, who I sent off my copy of the Lisa K. book. Anyway, right next door to the Post Office is Borders. And, well, you know what happened then. I ended up going in and buying Kathryn Smith's new book, Before I Wake, which JenB just read and liked, and since she and I have very similar tastes, I figured I'd enjoy, and then I bought The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, which has been garnering very passionate reviews. It's supposedly a love story, but an unconventional one. It's likely it'll be a while before I read it, but look how gorgeous the cover is. I couldn't resist. Or, well, I could have, but I didn't want to.

What did you do this weekend? Reading anything good? See any good movies? Eat anything particularly yummy? What's on your mind?