Momopalooza – CELEBRATING 75 YEARS
My mom turned 75 last weekend. We had a series of events to celebrate and I called it momopalooza. (That’s grandmapalooza for the grand kids.) Family members flew in and were distributed throughout the local guest rooms (I was lucky enough to host my darling sister-in-law and niece, a recent high school graduate. My brother and other niece are traveling in Australia and missed the party).
Events included a BBQ hosted by my very creative sister. The tables were lovely and she had a m
ister going over the bar area which helped keep us cool in the unseasonable heat. The next day the ladies all went out for manicures and pedicures – there were 14 of us including the youngest grandchildren – we pretty much took over the salon. Then we went off for lunch and embarrassed mom by singing Happy Birthday to her. We had made an appointment for her with the personal shopper at Nordstom, and sent her off to shop with a gift card and a small contingent from the group.
That evening we had a very nice catered dinner at my other sister’s home. She has a beautiful yard with a pool,
so the adults enjoyed cocktails while the kids splashed away. After dinner and yummy cake, we presented mom with a memory book with photos and memories we had all submitted and compiled. The kids were amazed to see how young and beautiful their grandma was.
I think she still is at 75.
For more ideas for gifts check out our Squidoo pages
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DINNER WITH FRIENDS
We were
invited to dinner at the new home of my old friend and her significant other. They purchased it together and we were their first guests. It is an older ranch house which has been updated beautifully. It sits on a large lot with a terraced garden, large trees and an inviting hot tub. I am looking forward to their house warming party planned later in the spring when the nights will be warm enough to sit outdoors.
He made some potent Margaritas to start us out, she served some tasty guacamole and
we commenced to talking. I am not sure we stopped talking for a minute, even to savor the wonderful dinner. She made some great seviche with scallops and salmon. It was so fresh and spicy that I just had to have another margarita.
Next she grilled some lamb chops which she served over corn pudding with 3 different salsas. The salsas were green, yellow and red, so you can imagine how amazing these plates looked – and the taste was just as good. Yum.
So it was a great evening out with friends. Good food, wonderful company, an inviting setting and an invitation to visit again.
I wrote an article a while back about hostess gifts. When you have received an invitation, take a look and consider taking an out of the ordinary gift!
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IMMERSED IN THE BOLEYNS
My book club read “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Phillippa Gregory before I joined. The current selection is the follow-up novel “The Boleyn Inheritance” but everyone said I 
should read the first one first, if I could read 1000 pages in 4 weeks. The plan was that we would all go to the movie when it opened – and we did tonight.
So I have been immersed in the 16th century all month. The books read practically like romance novels, but have a sprinkle of history, politics, sociology and religion which give them some real historical heft. Of course, I was aware of Ann Boleyn – or Ann of a Thousand Days. I knew how it was all going to turn out, but I have gone to the internet to look up several things to put more of the story in context and to understand some of the terms used.
Women were treated abominably – big surprise. Women were treated badly throughout history, however we tend to think that especially true of the less educated and privileged. In this story we see that noble women were used as pawns to raise a family’s position. And they used the sexuality of these young women very openly. And by young, I mean 12 and 14 years old “sold” into marriage, offered as mistress to the King in exchange for money and property and rank. The movie ran through about 14 years of history in 2 hours and so condensed the story to a nearly unrecognizable degree. That is the problem with movies based on stories which are long and complicated.
I admired the way they changed it, but a lot of what made the book an enjoyable read was
lost. The costumes were lavish, the settings were lovely. The mood of the movie was darker, more somber than the book. Not much of the merry making and courtly love were evident. In our book club discussion over dinner, we all agreed that we enjoyed the movie – but as usual, liked the book more.
Gifts for your Queen, Princess, King and Prince can be found here! Click here for gift ideas for your book club.
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My Art Filled Life 