The state of the affair

We went to a Sweet 16 party last Saturday for the daughter of our next door neighbors.  I thought I'd show you the current state of the modern affair.  After attending this event, we were happy we have a son!

This first picture is of the cocktail hr which took place in the sort of lobby of the Grand Hyatt hotel in NYC.  What you can barely make out way in the back is a backdrop.  As guests arrived, they were greeted by a "red carpet" emcee who interviewed them complete with microphone.  While 4 video cameras rolled, we were asked to announce who we were, how we knew the family and send our well wishes to the honoree.  After that, we moved to a frozen drink station where bartenders blendered up some frosty goodness.  We mingled in this area with butler served hors d'oeuvres for more than an hr.  To the left and right of me were different stations, pasta, carving, and a multitude of buffet style foods.

Next is the ballroom.  One side had all the kids, the other was the adults. You are looking at the kid side. You can see the flatscreen tv in the background that played a video of the honoree.  There were a number of TV's throughout the cocktail room and ballroom playing the video.

 

This is the centerpiece.  We were graciously given the one on our table which was huge.  I had no place to display it at home so I broke it up into 4 different vases.  1 vase had over 4 dozen roses in it. 

 

Notice the boom on this video camera.

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Here we have the dj's.  I think they were absolutely inappropriately dressed for the event.  I'd have deducted money from their bill for showing up like this.  They also didn't play anything for us old fogies.  Jim kept waiting for a slow song so we could dance.  Never happened.

 

The backlit seat of honor after her grand entrance.

 

Logan and her brother, Raja.  Poor kids were relegated to a table of 10 boys.  With so many girls in the room, Logan didn't stay there long. 

 

Live entertainment. Don't ask me her name.  She's some up-and-coming teeny bopper who had her entire entourage with her while she sang 3 songs.

 

The goofy boys gawking at the girls.  I had to laugh at this.

 

Not my son, though.  He was right in there with the girls.  

 

The man with the microphone is our local congressman.

 

 Mother of the honoree and my goofy husband who's in desperate need of a haircut.

 

Ok, someone please tell me what is going on here.  When did showing bras become acceptable and what is the deal with the babydoll nighty length dresses?   There were many of those at the event.  Oh, I might add.  Logan was pleased by their fashion choices.  Typical teen boy!  LOL 

It was quite the expensive affair.  Far cry from the sweet 16 I had almost 3 decades ago.  Ack!  Has it been that long?   Guess old fogie really fits.   Yikes!!!!

How cool is this?   Right outside my house there was a preying mantis.  Never saw one of these in NY so it was a very nice surprise.  Jim was very careful not to harm it as this little guy walked around on his hand.  Well, it could have been a female for all we knew but he/she seemed to be as curious of us as we were of it.  After we took a few pics, Jim gently set it down in the bushes.  

 

 Here's to hoping your day is filled with nice surprises!

Comic Con 2011

Hi, Folks.

Thought you might enjoy seeing what fun and sights my boys were treated to when they went to this year's Comic Con in NYC.  Jim was so looking forward to this.  He could hardly wait for the day to arrive.  I guess it's the equivalent of me going to a scrap convention, except the people at his convention are a whole lot weirder as evidenced by some of the shots he took while there.

So...enjoy the freak show!  LOL

Here are some Anime characters. 

Logan inside a "Bumble Bee" Camaro from Transformers.

 

Taking a trip on the dark side with Darth.

 

Of course, no comic convention would be complete without Mario and Luigi.

 

I know 3 of these are from Batman but don't ask me who the guy on the right in the green outfit is.

 

Another unknown character but it's a great outfit. 

 

Don't tell me this guy isn't sweating in there!

 

What's a convention without a zombified Spidey and Catwoman?

 

Ever wonder what happened to Mr. T?  Found him!

 

 And the cake topper....take a look at this guy!

 

 Ewwwwwwwww!  is all I can say about the back view!

 

 Somebody please tell me how you walk in these.

So there you have it; a nice sampling of some of the freaky things my boys saw while at the convention.

Guess they are all ready for Halloween, huh?  

Have a great one!

Hi, again.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into my son's summer doings. As promised yesterday, here are some more pictures from Logan's trip to Florida. 

Balcony at Hemingway House

Cat petting in Hemingway House.  Notice he's the only one interested in the cat.

More kitty petting at Hemingway House.  The kitties roam free on the premises.

More fishing

And yet another catch, albeit a teeny one

Shark bait

Lorakeet feeding

roller coastering

Bird petting.  See a pattern here?  The kid loves animals.

Storm chasing

Dolphin sighting in Tampa Bay

In answer to Courtney's question, while Logan was enjoying himself doing all these activities, his father and I were stuck in our cubicles at work the whole summer!  No fun for us...boo hoo!   Like I said, he's a lucky kid, for sure.

Hope you enjoy!

Wishing you all a happy day.

Summer Fun

Hi, Friends.

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted.  Boy, life can sure get busy.  Blogger has changed things and it's taking me more than a while to figure out the new setup.  I'm so far not sure I'm liking it.  I can't seem to move pictures to where I want them so please excuse things maybe being out of order. 

Logan started high school last month.  (Geez, is it really already a month???)  We've all had to adjust to the new schedule but I think we are pretty much settled into it now.  He says he likes school, well, as much as a teenager can like school, I guess.

He's joined the art club which he very much enjoys.  The art club meets on Monday afternoons.  When I picked him up yesterday, he could barely wait to show me his new sketches.  First, I have to say how much I loved his enthusiasm and how he couldn't wait to show me what he'd drawn.  I've noticed he's become a bit more secretive lately so to see his glee and willingness to share a part of his life was wonderful.  I really was very impressed with his drawings.  I've never been able to draw but my child most certainly can, at least in my humble opinion. 

With the onset of autumn's cooler temperatures, Logan and I were discussing the fun he had over the summer.  I thought I'd show you a bit of some of the things he got to do while his father and I toiled away at our jobs.  Lucky kid!

These pictures are from his two week trip in Florida with my Uncle Kenny.  We flew him down to Miami where my Uncle Kenny met him and together with his son, Josh, they embarked on a wonderful adventure.  Here are some pictures.  You can't tell but it was well over 100 degrees while they were there in August. 

Tarpon feeding in the keys

Tarpon fish

Somewhere in the Keys

Pelican mooching for some tarpon food

Lobster sighting in Key West

That's cousin Josh with Logan

Driving the boat in Tampa Bay

Fishing off the boat

Examining the catch

The official Big Foot Truck

Kangaroo feeding

These are just a few of the things he did.  I have more pictures to show but you but lunch is over so back to work I go.  Gotta earn that tuition money, you know!  LOL

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Pretty & Organized

Hello, friends.

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I had a very nice weekend complete with a tasty bbq at a friend's house. It's unfortunately Monday night and the 3-day weekend is almost over but I was productive today.

Yesterday I took advantage of the 50% off coupons Mike's and Moore's were offering. I bought 6 new Jetmax cubes bringing my total cube count to 30. I have room for 3 more but I'll wait for another sale to get them. Jim put them together for me today and I spent the next few hours organizing my stash......yet again. BUT!! Most of my paper is now in the same location. I previously had it spread over 2 corners of my livingroom which was inconvenient. Take a look at the below picture. Isn't it pretty???? I LOVE that it's all in one place and it's organized into set groups. All my holiday paper to all my colored cardstock, excluding SU! paper, it's all neatly in its proper slot.

I even have all my dies and embossing folders which are in the decorative photo boxes on the left all organized too. I'm a very happy scrapper tonight.

Oh and because of the reorganization, I also now have room for another clip-it-up which I so desperately need. Yay!




















Ok, I'm off to order that new clip-it-up.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mass Card Production

Hello!

Just thought I'd show you what 110 cards looks like. That's right! I made 110 cards in a 4 day period. I'd made 45 of them over a weekend and then made the other 65 in one night. Talk about working my little fingers to the bone!

I was able to assemble the 65 in one night because I'd pre-cut, stamped and punched all the other pieces so it was just a matter of placing and adhering them to the actual card. Still, that kept me up until 2 am.

My company ordered these from me for a special event we were hosting and they wanted each attendee to receive a personalized thank you card. I not only made the 110 cards but I also hand wrote the sentiment in each one.

They gave me a roll of our company ribbon and I used that on the cards. It took a few tries but I figured out the measuring to get our company name visible on the bow. Once I'd gotten the length right, it was just a matter of measuring, marking and cutting. The cards are black and grey because those are our company logo colors. We no longer use the blue as a logo color but they had the ribbon laying around and suggested I somehow incorporate it into the card design.

Here they are all laid out.














A closer view of the front. They are all a bit different.













Here you can see both the front and inside of the card.














I guess they really liked the cards because yesterday they called me from Orlando where the event was being held and for which these cards were used to ask me to make 77 more cards for 2 other events we are holding. Whoo hoo!!!!

Guess I know what I'll be doing over the three day holiday weekend, huh? LOL

Thanks for looking! Have a great day friends.