Gala Photos for Mom

I know I said I was going to take photos and post about the Show House Gala last night but I had so many other things on my mind that I wasn't in a galic (hee hee) mood. I had Matt snap this one before I left home 'cause I told my mamma that I'd get a picture on here for her. She's been going to the library to check out my blog occasionally, a new thing, and I'm happy to encourage her to do so. Remember, she thinks the Internet is all porn and identity theft, so I'm hoping she'll get into it and find some other fun things to browse around about. Anyhoo, I didn't take any photos at the gala even though I carried my camera around. I told you I wasn't in the mood. My date, Karen, and I didn't even host our room as we were supposed to; it is a stressful endeavour and, logically, not a big room so leaving space for guests was just oh so thoughtful of us. We ate the $75 dinner instead and then had (at least I did) $400 worth of desert...oh man, cannoli!!!! (my fave), cheesecake tarts, lemon bars, and so much more.

After that I headed down to the barn where my friends have their shop set up and had beer available and normal, low brow fun and conversation which I'm way more comfortable with. It was getting chilly out and I'd thought to bring a wrap but then didn't. I was looking around their barn shop for a tablecloth, doille, or something to put around my shoulders to warm myself when I spied the bag o' bubble wrap. There was the perfect size piece so I oh so elegantly draped it around my shoulders and design guru, Carroll, thought it was "all that". So we had our photo taken as a record that if this thing catches on I want full credit for being the first to think of it and royalties every time someone puts one on. I left shortly after the guys started asking how much I was charging for a pop; it was getting late. Did I mention it was the "lowbrow" group? I told Carroll that there were so many photos of us together on my blog lately that people were starting to ask questions. No questions needed, not that there's anything wrong with it...

Oh my ward...when the cats are away...

Well all the daddies are away this week so that means eating out. Cedric is "away" (a.k.a., can't say or I'll have to kill you kinda stuff) so I'm Alec's guardian for the month. So here are Matt, Alec, big brother Andre', and me on one of our outing eats. I don't do much c...o...o...k...i...n...g anyway; I mean after 25 years it gets uninspiring and old so I really don't cook when I don't have to. We were laughing about being the all-American family out for dinner.When our daddy is out of town, the cat really plays. I'm not sure why I let his dynamics take over from the beginning (actually, I used to be a lot more passive but not so much now) but, of course, he expects a new meal on the table every night then for me to be available should there be a t.v. show he wants to watch with me in the room; I still don't quite get it but I go along most of the time. But when he's gone I go nuts. Well, not too nuts; I usually, as is the case this week, paint rooms. I painted three rooms in three days. I feed the kids whatever, they do their own homework, shower themselves, go to bed, and I can stay up as late as I want doing whatever I want without any questions or microscopes. It's a bit of a holiday for me. I know this sounds harsh but I'm just very independent and what to do whatever the hell I want to do all the time but I try to be fair and compromise most the time. Except for the travel times!

And my little ward here, Alec, did harsh my holiday a little by throwing up at school yesterday so I had to pick him up. He laid in the middle of the torn up family room watching t.v. with a trash can nearby and recovered quite nicely while I finished painting. Subsequently, today I had to pick him up from school and take him to the doctor so I was behind finishing the third room. Here he is showing off his Elmo sticker for being so good at the doctor. She found that he's got Bronchitis so it's a good thing I pressed the visit. Tomorrow will be spent trying to find a drug store that caters to military insurance so I can get him started on his much-needed RXs. Wasted a lot of time today getting turned down but I've got a better trail to follow tomorrow.

So here's the fruit of my labor in the family room. I had a good excuse (like I need one to paint every room every year), they don't make the previous color paint anymore and I couldn't find the formula so I HAD to go with a new color, charcoal gray. It's darker, but being a person who is stimulated by color, I love it. And there's nothing better than a fresh coat of paint; I find it very gratifying. And the color really make everything pop.

And my kind of t.v. The dark colors in the room really look good against the charcoal. And above the t.v. are two of my latest obsessions-John Derian's work now available at TARGET-run. So I'm happy with it and when I'm happy I like to share it with y'all. Be happy too. Paint a room!

Show House, Schmow House?

I truly hope I haven't overloaded y'all with show house stuff. It has been a three month project after all, tons of work, and the fun part is all about to begin. Tonight is the gala preview party. All the mucky mucks from all around gather in their pretty party dresses (mostly the women) and eat, drink, and see pretty rooms. But mainly what I wanted to say here is that I finally uploaded the rest of the show house photos onto my Flickr. Alls you gotta do is click on my Flickr button on the side bar, go where it takes you, select the show house from the sets options, and view away. I hope you enjoy. The ones marked s.r. are indicating Sitting Room, of course, the room we did but you can also view those on the separate post here. Thanks for looking and stay tuned for gala party pics...

Swami Party is a hit!

How great it is to have a fun party after all the hard work we've all done the last few weeks. It was perfect to have some corny laughs and cut loose after the stress. Okay, serious, corny laughs. Here comes the Swami down the stairs making his regal entrance.

I had to get the full-on view. He either takes his swaminess very seriously or my chi was harshing his mellow, either way I've got to get me one of those hats.

Lord Carroll was the swami's assistant (co-conspirator is what he really was). Being the assistant gets you a cool outfit but not the same league of hat.

It was Carroll's job to pick objects from different rooms then have the swami come in and guess which object Carroll had picked. He got it 100%-can you imagine? We were sooooo impressed or was that the Budweiser?

Carroll wonders which desert Swami will pick.

Mary gets a kick out of singing, "Swami, how I love ya', how I love ya'", every time he comes into the room. Her hubby Chris got tired of it but she and I never did.

Photo op of me in my room. I don't know how y'all do it in other states but cowboy boots go with every occasion even Swami parties. It's either the boots or I'm gonna have to have the state tattooed on my forehead. I guess I could have put my long neck beer down but who wants to spill on Karen's area rug?

These guys, Brian and Randy, ended up stealing the show by having their own (bar) trick that had us going way too long. They totally used us, especially Randy, saying they had to hug and touch us to get our aura to figure out which gumdrop we had picked out of 9 while they weren't looking. We never did catch on; but after enough petting they told us; very clever. I don't think they had felt like such heroes since their college bar days. Ahh...good food, good drink, good times, good folks, good for the soul.

Stay tuned...

Stay tuned for photos of all the show house rooms. I spent hours this morning trying to do a slide show of them but...ummm...crap...I couldn't do it...crap. Also there will be a post on the party pics from tonight. Lord Carroll, above, is hosting a Swami Soiree at the show house for the decorators and other helpers. They had one last year and it was a great hangover success; he brings in psychics and they do all sorts of telling. Detail to come...