Going Mad

Excuse me while I dig myself out...

I feel like I've been MIA from not only my blog, but from my life. I was the co-chair for The Tallahassee Ballet's Sisterhood of the Costume event. The planning sort of took over my life for the past few weeks {eh, months}. The event theme was MadWomen, a swanky '60s, all-girl party to raise money for the costumes and sets for the Ballet's three major performances each year.

We had a vintage desk and secretaries at the registration/check-in, cigarette girls passing out candy cigs, a vintage purse/coat check area, a "costume closet" photo op with all sorts of vintage dress up items and accessories, a slideshow with vintage ads and images of famous women of the '60s flashing across the silver screen, a DJ playing hits from the '60s, lots of dancing, live auction, door prizes and a signature cocktail called the "Raving Mad" served in a Collins glass. Everyone dressed up and really got into the theme!

I hosted a little pre-event party at my teeny townhouse.
That's a lot of girls, huh?

The vintage decor and photo op area was provided by Divas & Devils {pictured above}.

Me and my boo!

My co-chair, Rian Meadows and I had so much fun planning this event.

The "cigarette girls" from Divas & Devils.

"Smokin" a ciggy.
My dress was from D&D's clothing store and I absolutely LOVED it!

Who exactly do I think I am anyways?

The Divine Ms. Boo Hartsell & The Divine Ms. Ann Todd
(our costume mistresses and special guests for the evening)

Me and my Mama, The Divine Ms. Yenna Colvin (our other costume mistress)

Several Junior League friends came out to show their support!

More photos from the official photographer will be posted on the Ballet's website in the coming days/weeks. It was so fun, but I'm so glad to have it in my rear view mirror!!

Now on to other news and events...

Spring arrived and we've gone right into Summer. We've had several weeks in a row of 80-degree weather. I was even able to get down to the beach {St. George} with my parents and the kids for my birthday {March 19}. It was a perfect day at the beach. Not too warm, not too cool. The Gulf, however, was still cold {at least for my taste, anyways}.

We had a great time and we only had one nearly lost child.

I was chatting on the phone with Ben {who was in New Orleans, if you recall} and my mom was watching Jack play in a puddle on the sand about 5 feet away. Jack got up and started walking away from her and then he started running away from her. My mom got up and headed off after him {in a half walk/half jog}. When he was probably about 50 yards away, my dad told me that Jack has taken off down the beach and my mom isn't catching up to him. By now, Jack was in a full out sprint. I got up and, like my mom thought, "Oh maybe he's going to check out that jet ski". Nope...he passed right by it. "Well, maybe he's chasing a bird". Nope...no birds in sight. "What in the heck is running away so fast for?" I had to quickly go into Baywatch-babe-mode and break into a full sprint.

{God, if only I really looked like that in my swimsuit running down the beach!}

I can only imagine the sight I was to behold for bystanders. I'm sure I made for good people watching and a few good laughs for the hundreds of people watching me {it was the middle of Spring Break}. When I FINALLY caught up to him {or got in earshot of him hearing me call his name} I was ready to bring the wrath of God down on him....

"Where in the hell are you running off to?" and "You better get your hiney {I'm using a euphemism for what I was actually thinking} back here right now!" was all I could think of saying to him.

I didn't even get off a single curse word, though. When he turned around his eyes were red and teary. He had the most panic-stricken look on his face. So instead, the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Jack, where were you running off to?"

Jack: "I couldn't find you...I thought I lost you!"

Me: "Honey, I was right behind you."

Jack: "I was looking all over. I was looking left. I was looking right. I didn't see you!"

Me: "Well, why didn't you look behind you?"

Jack: "Well, I'm not a robot...my head doesn't turn that way!"

My mood quickly changed from raging anger to feelings of resentment for thinking awful things of my child and laughter that he just told me he wasn't a robot and his head didn't turn backwards. Oh, kids! You never know what you're gonna get.

After I caught my breath and steadied myself from exhaustion and light-headedness...we headed back towards Nana. All I could think, was thank God I was here to catch him because he surely would have outrun her {although to this day she will tell you, she would have turned on the afterburner to catch him}. We laughed hysterically about the robot comment and it still makes me chuckle to this day. It'll probably be one of those stories that I tell about him at his wedding.

We ended the afternoon with dinner in Apalachicola at Up The Creek Raw Bar. Don't let the name {or exterior} fool you. It was actually quite pleasant inside and on the screened patio. Plus, they had delicious oysters and seafood bisque.

The perfect ending to my 32nd anniversary of birth!

Speaking of perfect birthdays...Ben surprised me with a Keurig for my birthday. Now some women wouldn't be too excited about such a utilitarian birthday gift. But it's actually something that I've been asking for and wanting for quite some time. Much to my surprise, he actually was listening and totally caught me off guard by picking out this little gift. I love it, to say the least. The fact that I can have a delicious, fresh brewed cup of coffee in one minute any time of the day is fabulous! And what's better is that if you have guests {say a weekly coffee playdate} and one guest wants decaf and the other wants regular...you don't have to brew two pots of coffee!

When I put my new Keurig in place, I realized that I needed some major de-cluttering of the kitchen area by which to showcase my new jewel. So this is what I spent the better part of a day doing.

Something about organization and cleanliness puts me totally at ease!

And while we are on the subject of birthdays and being at ease...I get to use my parent's birthday gift to me tomorrow. It is a day of pampering and relaxation with my mom for a tourmaline facial and hot-stone massage! I've got so much stress from these past few weeks, that it will be fabulous to be unknotted and pores cleared!

Okay, so this is getting long. If you are still with me...God bless you!

Just a few more random photos and thoughts before I go...

I have so much fun spending time with Paigey all day. Even though she is at the age where she climbs on everything and gets into one sort of mischief, then another, she is such a joy and source of daily laughter.

The other day, I came into my bedroom and she had removed {almost} all of my underwear from my drawer {I have a lot of underwear} and put them on all over her body. Luckily, they were clean undies {although she's been known to dig in the dirty laundry, too}.

I should probably not be displaying my undies to all of the world wide web, but the sight of her was too funny NOT to share! Thankfully, she picked some of my better looking pairs.

Remember Big Baby? Paige has developed an affinity for her. She likes that she cries {when you tip her back}, so she lays her on the floor and pounds her back. The funniest sight is her gathering all three of her babies {Big Baby, Medium Baby and Little Baby} and carrying them all over the house. She's going to be such a good mama one day!

She's learning body parts. Belly button, nose, mouth, eye, ear, head...and she can say them and point to them {90 percent of the time}.

She gives kisses, if she's in the mood. She's also learned that it's funny to say, "no" when you ask for one, too. She's giving stuffed Buzz a kiss. She carries him around like he's her man. Should I be concerned?

Paige has lots of words now and like her brother is pretty understandable. She turned 15 months on March 19th. She's still taller and heavier than 75% of girls her age. She is a great big ball of trouble and delight {again, just like her brother}.

When I feel like I'm going mad, I just think of all the joy my children bring!

You've reached the end and so have I {for now}....hallelujah!